Quitters & Criers
by Itsy-BitsyR5
Summary: Austin and Ally have a huge blowout. So huge that Ally quits as his partner. Months later, Dez and Trish decide that they can't stand to see their friends so miserable, so they try to end the feud, but Ally wont give in willingly, despite her growing feelings. Auslly and a bit of Trez. Gonna be a short-ish story.
1. 1: Quitters

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

Austin POV

I closed my laptop and peeked at Dez. How would he react? Would he laugh at me? Would he be understanding and try to cure me with cheerleaders and pancakes? Mmm, pancakes sound good right now-focus Austin.

"Well...what was that supposed to do?" Dez asked and I sighed. He could be so clueless sometimes, which was good. It made me look smarter.

"My Internet diary. And you cant tell anyone about what I wrote in it!" I said making him swear.

"Austin, you're my best friend! I would never tell anyone that you have a crush on-" I slapped my hand over his mouth as everyone in Sonic Boom looked at us. Including Ally.

She started to stroll right over to us and I started to whisper shout at Dez. "Dez! You're not supposed to shout out who I have a crush on!" I whispered at him and he shrugged. Ally was nearly in front of us so I put on a nervous smile, and let go of Dez.

"Hey guys." Ally said slowly, giving us weird looks. "Whatcha talkin' about?"

My smile disappeared. "Uh…LeBron James." I answered quickly. Jeez, that was close.

"Really, 'cause it sounded like you were talking about something else." Ally said giving the look she usually gives me when she knows I'm up to something. Uh oh.

"No, no. Just LeBron James." I squeaked and thankfully, Trish came walking in.

"Guess who just got a job at Tech Town?" she boasted loudly and Ally walked off to go talk to her.

I grabbed my laptop and me and Dez ran up to the practice room. I shut the door and placed the wooden piano bench in front of it for good measure.

"Dez, you can't tell anyone about my Internet diary!" I told him and he shrugged.

"What's the big deal? If it's a website, can't everyone see it?" he asked grabbing a soda from the fridge.

I shook my head and grinned at my cleverness…is that even a word? Cleverness…cleverniness…no, I think it's cleverness.

"Nope, I set the privacy settings to undetectable!" I grinned and he nodded.

"Very wise." he agreed. "But I have a question. I thought you didn't like Ally? Remember that whole problem with the journal, and the tan, and the sweat?"

I nodded. "Well…it's like…Suzy's Soup. You know how at first we weren't sure if we liked it or not, but when we ate there for a straight week we found out that we loved it? That's what it's like with Ally."

"…but, you don't eat Ally…" Dez said slowly and I smiled, trying to picture it. Heh heh, weird. "Wait! Oh, I get it! Okay, it makes sense." he grinned and moved the piano bench from the door.

"Oh Dez, before I forget, I need your help to work on my Austin Moon Official Website. Ally designed it and…well, it's Ally." I explained.

"Austin!" Ally's voice interrupted our conversation and she sounded offended.

I smiled at her all innocent like. "I mean…my website's great. There's nothing I would ever change!"

Ally gave me that look she always gives me whenever she seems like she's annoyed by me, but she thinks it's funny. You know when she shifts all her weight to one leg, puts her hand on her hips, tilts her head, and smiles at me as if she's saying "you are such a dork". I love that look.

"Well, okay. If you don't want to change anything." Dez shrugged and began to leave, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

"Dez!" I hissed.

Ally POV

I got in another fight with Austin today. We've actually been fighting a lot ever since he was acting all weird with Dez. I heard them talking about crushes, but when I asked Austin said that they were talking about LeBron James. And I don't think Austin has a crush on LeBron James.

"I mean, I just don't get it. Austin and I have always been really truthful with each other. We've told each other personal things. I've seen him in his trucks underwear. You can't get any more personal than that." I explained to Trish, sitting down in the food court.

"Well, you know there's only one thing you can do." Trish nodded sympathetically.

"Wait for him to feel comfortable, and tell me?" I asked taking a sip of my smoothie.

"No!" Trish laughed. "Squeeze the truth out of him until he pops!"

I laughed and shook my head. "So what was the fight about this time anyway?" she asked.

FLASHBACK!

I entered the practice room this morning to let Austin know that I wouldn't be able to work with him today - I had a lunch date with Dallas.

"You're ditching me for Dallas?" Austin asked, his hair falling in his eyes.

"No I'm not ditching you, I'm just…" my eyes wandered as I tried to find the right word. "Okay. I'm ditching you. Yes. But it's not that big of a deal, you miss practice all the time!"

"I come late. I don't ditch practice, I come late. The point is, you're always making a big deal about attending practice and not making it 'Austin time', you're being a hypo-hypo…hypocrite? Yeah, you're being a hypocrite!" Austin exclaimed standing up now.

"Why are you yelling at me? It just one practice!" I argued back.

"It's not just the practices, it's the songs you're writing! They're all about Dallas!" he defended holding up my journal which I quickly snatched from him.

"1. Don't touch my book." I said giving him my death glare. "And 2. they're not all about Dallas." I said flipping through my book. "Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Wait! I can find one!"

"It's whatever Ally. I'll see you tomorrow…unless you and Dallas have some date thing you need to do." he muttered walking out of the practice room and closing the door.

FLASHBACK OVER!

"Wait, so are you and Dallas dating?" Trish asked me.

"Well, uh…you know we never really made it official…we just kinda talk, it wasn't really clear - okay, not the point. Don't you think Austin is totally overreacting?" I asked and Trish hesitated. SHE HESITATED!

"Well, as long as this is just a one time thing, than it should be fine." she said slowly and I smiled.

"See! I only plan on ditching - I mean leaving practice for a date once!"

THE NEXT DAY!

"You're ditching practice again!" Austin exclaimed glaring at me angrily, making me grimace.

"Well, Dallas didn't really understand why I was so upset on our date, and when I told him, he said you were being stupid, so I defended you, and stormed away." Austin smiled at me briefly, but then quickly remembered he was mad at me. "So, this is kinda like our make up date."

Austin stood up from the piano bench. "You said this would be a one time thing!"

"I thought it was going to be!" I defended.

"How am I supposed to become a star if you're off galli-galli-" he turned to Dez who was watching us with wide eyes. "What was that word you said earlier?"

"Gallivanting." Dez smiled at me. "I read it on my word of the day toilet paper."

"Yeah!" Austin agreed. "How am I supposed to become a star, if you're off gallivanting with Dallas?"

I froze. "Wait, is that all you care about? Not that I'm not following my own rules, but that you're not becoming a star? Because not all my time is devoted into helping you?"

Austin was frozen and his face looked scared. "No."

"Yes it is! I can't believe you! You know, I'm really sick and tired of you always taking me for granted, and assuming that I have nothing better to do! Why don't you just write your own songs than?" I shouted at him and stormed out.

Austin POV

When Ally stormed out I was seeing red. I couldn't believe how badly she overreacted! I never take her for granted! And I'm the one who's supposed to be mad, not her!

"How could she be mad? I'm the one who's supposed to be mad! Ugh!" I shouted pacing back and forth.

"Well, is it really about the fact that she's not working on writing, or is it the fact that she keeps ditching you for Dallas?" Dez asked wisely and I thought about that for a moment.

"Mostly the Dallas thing I guess, but a little bit on the writing thing too." I sighed sitting down in one of the beanie bag chairs.

Dez set the laptop in my lap. "Write it out buddy, it'll help. When you're done, give me the laptop. I need to work on your website."

I nodded, and thought over the conversation between me and Ally. Instantly, I was fired up, and I began typing.

I don't know why I was badmouthing Ally, but I knew it made me feel better. Besides, she would never see it.

A LITTLE WHILE DOWN THE ROAD!

Ally had walked into my bedroom, and she looked sad.

"Austin, I'm so sorry. I know what I said hurt you, and that it was mean, but I need you to know that I didn't mean any of it. I'm actually really grateful for you. You make it so people can hear my music, but I don't have to perform." she said, and she walked forward and hugged me.

"Thanks Ally, that means a lot. And I'm not just mad that you're hesitant on your writing. I'm jealous that we don't hang out that much anymore." I explained slowly.

Ally smiled brilliantly at me and grabbed me in a quick hug. Best five seconds of my life.

"I have to go re-follow you on Tweeter!" she squealed.

"Wait, you're the one who un-followed me?" I asked feeling slightly offended.

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaat? Psh, no." she laughed nervously, and then backed out of the room slowly.

I laughed as I watched her go.

Almost as soon as she was gone, Dez entered the room.

"Austin! I just got done with your website! You're gonna love it! I already twitted about it, and all my followers and yours are looking at it now." Dez exclaimed excitedly and handed me the lap top.

It was awesome! It was yellow and navy blue, and my name was spelled out in big bold letters and it was flashing brightly. And it was next to a moon!

"Dez, this is awesome!" I said grinning at him and offering my fist. He bumped it with his.

"Thanks, it was pretty-"

"AUSTIN MONICA MOON!" Trish's fist came down on my door, making me and Dez jump.

"What?" I asked opening the door, only to receive a slap to the head.

"Your blog! I can't believe you would actually-" I stopped her.

"Blog? What blog? Wait, start from the beginning." I said not understanding.

Trish sighed, glared at me, and began to speak. "Fine. Well I saw Dez twit about your new website, so I checked it out. It said it had a link to your tweeter, so I clicked on it and the link took me to this weird website, where you were badmouthing Ally!"

I froze and turned to Dez. "Dez!"

"What? There's no way anyone could see that, it's on undetectable. And I didn't put that link, I put the link to your tweeter!" Dez said.

"Than how did Trish see it?" I stressed.

"Well…there were a lot of tabs open, I might've put the wrong link…" Dez scratched his head nervously. "But that doesn't explain how Trish could see it! It's on undetectable!"

I grabbed the laptop and signed into my Internet diary. There were tons of comments on my most recent post about Ally. I went to my privacy settings.

"See! Undetectable!" I pointed and Trish smacked my hand away and took a peek at the computer.

" 'Undetectable," she read, then gave me an exasperated look. " 'unless a link is posted'."

I think I stopped breathing. "Wait, you don't think…has Ally seen it yet?"

We all ran out of my room and to Sonic Boom. When we swung the door to the practice room open, my heart broke.

Ally was sitting there, staring at the computer screen, with a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Ally-" I started, but she began to read aloud.

"Ally Dawson wouldn't be anywhere with out me. Ally Dawson is a coward who can't even sing in front of a crowd. Ally Dawson is ruining my career." she read, her voice trembling.

"You really said that?" Dez whispered to me.

"Ally-"

"Ally Dawson is a back stabber. Ally Dawson will stomp on everyone's feelings with out a care. Ally Dawson cares about herself, and only herself."

"Ally, I'm sorry-"

"Ally Dawson wouldn't be anything with out me. If I were to go solo, she would disappear into the world unnoticed." she read, finally looking up at us.

"Ally, you were never meant to see any of that." I said, running a hand through my hair nervously.

"And that's supposed to make it okay?" she squeaked and my heart dropped at how sad she looked.

"Yes?" I answered but it sounded like a question. Ally closed her eyes and looked pained. I looked at Dez and he shook his head quickly. "No? No. No, no."

"Austin, it's not just that you put it online to humiliate me, but that you actually feel that way about me!" Ally exclaimed pushing away from the desk, but looked at the computer still. "Do you even know what they're saying about me?"

I winced. I had seen some of the comments. They weren't very nice.

"DoubleTake21 says 'Austin you so don't deserve to be treated that way'. MrsAustinMoon says 'who cares about some untalented lowlife? You rock Austin!' Austie96 says 'Ally sucks, and is dragging you down'." she read out loud silently crying at each comment. I walked over to her and looked at the computer looking for a good comment.

"Hey! This one's good! DownWithAD says 'Wow. Ally sounds like such a wonderful person'." I pointed out but Ally kept crying to my surprise.

"Austin, she was being sarcastic!" she wailed and started crying.

I looked to my friends for help, but all Trish did was glare at me. Dez zipped open his backpack, pulled out a box of tissues, and handed them to me.

I smiled guiltily at Ally and offered them to her. She stopped crying, and grabbed the tissue boxes…only to throw them at me. Which actually hurt. A lot.

"Ow!" I squeaked. "What was that for?"

"Get out!" she shouted at me, making me jump. Ally never usually yelled. Whenever she was mad she usually opened her book and started scribbling, or she tried to talk it out. She never yelled.

"What? Ally-"

"No! If you think that I'm just dragging you down, then you write your own songs!" she said.

I froze. "Wait. Ally, what are you saying? You're still going to be my partner right?"

She didn't answer me. "Just leave."

So I did.


	2. 2: 6 Months

**This is one of my more serious chapters because it's actually really hard to get in the mind of Disney writers and understand their comedy. **

* * *

_Previously:_

_"Get out!" she shouted at me, making me jump. Ally never usually yelled. Whenever she was mad she usually opened her book and started scribbling, or she tried to talk it out. She never yelled._

_"What? Ally-"_

_"No! If you think that I'm just dragging you down, then you write your own songs!" she said._

_I froze. "Wait. Ally, what are you saying? You're still going to be my partner right?"_

_She didn't answer me. "Just leave."_

_So I did._

* * *

Trish POV -

I sat across from Dez in the food court and played with my straw. We haven't talked in months and I actually kinda missed him. But I will totally deny ever thinking that!

"So...how's Austin?" I asked Dez, breaking the silence.

Ever since the fallout I had stopped representing Austin and sided with Ally, but it cost me both Dez and Austin's friendships.

"He's great. He keeps his talent alive by posting videos every Friday. Its great-he's great." Dez nodded.

I couldn't help but feel mad. Ally was struggling with out Austin, even though she wouldn't admit it. She was bursting at the seams with music and she tried to put it out there by recording her songs on video, and posting them, but she keeps the website on undetectable. She needs Austin! And he has the audacity to be 'just great'?

"How's Ally?" Dez asked.

Hmm, well if Austin is so great without Ally, then Ally can be too!

"She's fantastic!" I smile through my anger and nod. We're quiet for a second.

"Austin's miserable!" Dez exclaimed dramatically.

I sighed sadly and nodded. "Ally is too! She's had it so rough. Especially since Dallas broke up with her."

"Were they even together?" Dez asked me and I shrugged.

"I don't know...I mean, he said he liked her and she told him she liked him...you know they never really made it clear..."

"You think that's bad? Well Austin picked up some song writing tips from Ally, but he can only write jingles for commercials. And when he does write a song and posts it online, they're horrible." Dez sighed and shook his head.

We were silent for a minute, but then I got a brilliant idea.

"Dez! I have the best idea ever!" I grinned and he nodded.

"So you think I should build a gingerbread vacation house too? I knew I was on to something!" Dez grinned triumphantly and held up his hand for a high five but I just stared at him. There was no way someone could be that dumb.

"No idiot." I shook my head. "We should reunite Austin and Ally!"

Dez nodded excitedly. "That's way better than a gingerbread vacation house!"

I couldn't help but laugh. Hey, don't judge me. It's been 6 months without this idiot.

"You know Dez, I'm not really good at this mushy stuff like Ally, but…Ally, um, has really missed you." I said chickening out. There was no way I was going to tell Dez that I actually missed him.

Dez grinned a little. "Yeah? Well…Austin misses you too."

Ally POV

6 months. 6 months without Austin. _6 months. _That's too long. I miss him so much, but I'm terrified to even be in the same room as him. And it hurts to see him because never in my life did I think that Austin…_hated _me so much. We never really said it, but he was one of my best friends. But in hindsight, I did hurt him too. I left him even though his dreams relied on me.

And then, I think what hurt him most of all was the sign inside of Sonic Boom and the practice room.

The day after Austin and I had the huge blowout, one of my dad's Cloud Watching Club friends showed him what Austin said about me. My dad completely flipped out, and went into the practice room and didn't come out until the next day.

When I walked into Sonic Boom there was a big sign out front that said 'We reserve the right to refuse service to any customer; ESPECIALLY AUSTIN MOON!'

Austin had tried to come by Sonic Boom, but my dad shouted at him, shoved the sign in his face, and told him to get out.

I watched all this from the practice room. But when I shut the door and turned around, tragedy struck. The room looked almost exactly like how it had looked before I met Austin.

And then, I don't know how he did it, Austin managed to sneak into Sonic Boom, and walked into the practice room. He froze in the doorway, looked around the room, and finally his eyes locked with mine.

"So it's really over then." he whispered and then left. He never came back.

I must have cried all week. But when I had managed to stop crying, and lift my head during school, I ran into Dez.

We stared at each other waiting for someone to say something. But we didn't. He just unzipped his backpack, pulled out a flash drive, put it in my hand, and walked away.

It never really hit me that losing Austin meant I would lose Dez too. But it only makes sense. They came into my life together, they might as well do the same. And Dez was always close with Austin, so I guess he would side with him.

And as for the flash drive, I never looked at it. I knew that it was probably Dez's goodbye, and I just couldn't handle it.

I walked down the halls of my high school to go to lunch when Austin started walking towards me. Well, he wasn't really walking towards me, more like in the general direction.

Anyway, I panicked and ran into the nearest room. I peeked out the window and watched Austin walk by. I sighed and the door opened, making me cringe.

"Ally, what are you doing in here?" Trish asked and I looked around. I was in the janitors closet.

"Uh…" I tried to think of an excuse, but then to my surprise Dez popped in next to Trish.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked and we stared at him. Me in shock because I haven't talked to him in six months; Trish was probably coming up with a smart remark.

"What does it look like Dez? We're having a party." Trish rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"Ooh goodie." Dez grinned excitedly and pulled party hats out of his backpack and handed each of us one. He reached in his back pack again, and threw a bunch of confetti in the air.

"Dez!" I exclaimed spitting out pieces of confetti. "Trish was being sarcastic!"

"Oooooohhhhhhh." Dez realized and gave Trish a reprimanding look. "You never joke about a party."

Trish rolled her eyes again, but turned to me. "Anyway, Dez and I are gonna hang out after school. We were wondering if you wanted to hang out too?"

I thought about it, but then realized that Austin was probably going to be there. "Uh, you know what, I think I'm gonna pass on this one."

I walked passed them towards the cafeteria, but Dez and Trish were right on my heels.

"Come on Ally. Austin will be there, you guys can make up!" Dez pointed out and I stopped and spun around. Trish was glaring at him.

"Is that what you guys are trying to do?" I asked realization hitting me like a ton of bricks.

"Weeeeeeeeell." Trish dragged out while playing with her fingers. "We know how miserable you guys are without each other and-"

"Whaaaaaaat? Me? Miserable? Ha, heh, no way. I mean," I swallowed the lump in my throat. "I'm fine guys, thanks. And obviously, Austin's doing very well."

"But Ally-" they protested and I shook my head.

"I'm just not ready to forgive him." I shrugged and started to walk away.

"Ally, six months has to be long enough!" Dez objected sadly, and I turned around to look at the both of them.

"Guys, I appreciate it. But, I'm not ready." I could feel the tears in my eyes a little but I blinked them away. "So just-just stop."

Austin POV

6 months. 6 months without Ally. _6 months. _That's too long. I need to have her around me. I need to hear her laugh and see her dance horribly. But I'm afraid to see her because I don't want her to be mad at me still.

I honestly do think it'll kill me. I mean, you can die from a broken heart right?

I'd like to imagine that Ally's doing worse than me. That she's regretting ever quitting. That she's regretting ever thinking that she could be without me.

But I know it's only me. I used to see her crying around school, and to be truthful, I hoped it was about me. But then I found out Dallas had dumped her - at least I think he did…were they even going out? They never really made it clear - and then I realized it. It was for Dallas. Everything was always for Dallas!

I tried to apologize so many times, but the last time I tried I got an offensive sign shoved in my face and my heart stomped on.

I hadn't really taken Ally dissolving our partnership seriously until I walked into the practice room and the room had downgraded into what it had been before. It was like I had never walked into Ally's life.

Admittedly, it was nowhere near as bad as what I had done to Ally, but it still hurt badly, and…I wanted an apology.

Of course I wanted to apologize. If she would let me anywhere near her, I would be on my knees and apologizing in five seconds. But I was forbidden entrance from Sonic Boom, and every time I go anywhere near her, she runs away.

So when Dez and Trish came to me and invited me to hang out with them in the food court, I could barely contain my excitement. But I was also really nervous, which was strange because I'm normally never nervous.

I even got to the food court early. What was Ally doing to me?

I probably should've known she wasn't coming. She passed by the food court and stopped when she saw me. We locked eyes and I gave her a small smile and a wave. She didn't return the smile or the wave, but she did walk away.

But still when Trish and Dez arrived together without Ally, I asked them where she was.

"She's not coming." Dez sighed.

"I tried to convince her, but she said she doesn't want to be near you." Trish said bluntly, putting a tortilla chip in her mouth. When she looked at me, she started shaking her head. "I mean, she didn't feel too good." she said unconvincingly.

"Oh." I nodded and I couldn't help the hurt that set in. "Right. That's fine. So how've you been Trish?"

When I got home I went online, and went to MyTewb. I typed in Ally Dawson in the search bar and two videos came up.

There was the video of her on Helen. Then there was the auto-tuned musical version of her on Helen.

After watching the Ally Dawson Auto-Tuned Musical five times, I went back to my homepage feeling frustrated. I kept hoping that Ally would get enough confidence that she would take her MyTewb videos off of undetectable, but I kinda liked hacking into her channel to watch her videos.

There was a recent video, posted at midnight last night. I clicked it immediately and smiled when Ally came on the screen.

"_Hi, I'm Ally Dawson, and I'm going to be singing an original song that I actually…just wrote. It's called Disappearing." _she said while completely avoiding eye contact with the camera.

The song was one of her more slower songs, and I recognized it immediately. It was a song about her blending into the crowd to someone important. I wasn't sure how _Ally_ could blend into a crowd. She always stuck out to me whenever I would walk around at school.

I spent the next hour re-watching all of her videos. I couldn't help it, it's been 6 months.

Ally POV

I had to go passed the food court on the way to Sonic Boom. That's when I saw Austin and he saw me. We locked eyes and I was so close to forgiving him. It was like when he apologized for blaming me for that horrible song we wrote for Cassidy.

He smiled his cheeky little I'm Sorry smile, and he waved. I looked down and walked away from him sadly.

When my shift at Sonic Boom ended, I went up to the practice and went to Austin's website.

There were covers of a few songs, some of his jingles, and some of his new songs. I smiled and went immediately to my favorite jingle for Insta-Cakes.

"_Pancakes, pancakes, fluffy and light. Pancakes, pancakes, eat 'em all night!" _

I laughed until I realized I wasn't supposed to without Austin. I couldn't help but think of what Dez said. Was it time to forgive Austin? It's been 6 months.


	3. 3: Ally, I'm Sorry

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

* * *

_There were covers of a few songs, some of his jingles, and some of his new songs. I smiled and went immediately to my favorite jingle for Insta-Cakes._

"_Pancakes, pancakes, fluffy and light. Pancakes, pancakes, eat 'em all night!" _

_I laughed until I realized I wasn't supposed to without Austin. I couldn't help but think of what Dez said. Was it time to forgive Austin? It's been 6 months. _

* * *

Austin POV

Now it's no secret that my music is…really, really bad. Except for my Insta-Cake jingle. Not to toot my own horn but…toot toot!

That's why I had Trish go talk to Ally about maybe working with me again. Not as friends yet considering she hasn't really let me apologize yet, but just as a casual business.

"Where's Trish?" Dez asked when he sat down next to me in the food court.

"I asked her if she would talk to Ally for me." I said and then explained the situation to him.

He frowned. "And you don't think Ally will be mad about that?"

I thought about that, but saw Trish walking towards us. Slowly.

I leaped across the table, hopped over another and grabbed Trish by the arms.

"What did she say? What did she say?" I exclaimed in excitement.

"Will you let go of me first?" Trish said obviously irritated.

"Oh. Sorry." I smiled at her and let her go. "So what did she say?"

"Yeah, it's not happening." she shook her head and started walking to my table.

"Wait!" I chased after her. "What exactly did she say?"

"Well I was like 'hey Ally' and she was like 'hi Trish' and I was like 'how's it going' and she was like 'good' and I was like-"

"Trish!" I exclaimed.

She sighed. "When I told her you just wanted a working relationship she said she doesn't want to drag you down."

We were quiet for a minute while I tried to understand this. But Dez spoke up.

"Is it too early to say I told you so?" he asked.

"Dez!" Trish hissed, elbowing him in the ribs. I gave him an annoyed look and sunk low in my chair.

Later on, I had marched right in to Sonic Boom, and went to the front desk. Mr. Dawson was standing there.

"Mr. Dawson, I really need to speak to Ally." I said and he glared at me. He came around the counter and grabbed me by the arm.

"You need to leave." he said and started dragging me towards the door. But then I saw Ally watching us from the balcony.

"Ally!" I called to her. "Ally, please! I need to talk to you! I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry! Ally!"

Mr. Dawson and I were outside now. He let go of me, closed the door, and flipped the open sign so that it said they were closed.

I knocked on the door. "Ally! Ally!"

Ally POV

Trish had came to me, talking about Austin.

"You know he misses you." she said nonchalantly from the lounge area in Sonic Boom.

I sprayed the counter and started wiping it down. "I highly doubt that."

"No really. He said his music is nothing without you." Trish walked over to me and set her magazine on the counter, which I was still wiping.

"Ally Dawson wouldn't be anything with out me. If I were to go solo, she would disappear into the world unnoticed." I quoted. "Well, I'm glad Austin is finally realizing that."

I went around the counter, with my book in my hand, and started picking up around the store. We were about to open.

"Come on Ally. You guys should at least go back into a working relationship. I'm positive you have a ton of ideas." she grabbed my book from my hands and started flipping through it.

"Yes, I have a bunch of ideas, but I don't trust Austin enough." I grabbed my book back. "And don't touch my book."

"Ally, Austin really needs your help. He doesn't even want to be friends, he just wants you to write songs for him again!" Trish said while following me.

I stopped angrily. "What?"

Trish began to backtrack. "I mean, of course he wants to be friends, but he just wants your help right now."

"He doesn't even want to be friends with me?" I asked feeling hurt. "So what? He just wants me to stay in the shadows while he does his little boy band dance moves?" I mimicked some of his dance moves and Trish looked around nervously.

"Yeah, let's not do that in public." she shook her head, making me stop. "Really Ally, he does want to be your friend, but right now all he needs is your lyrics."

Did she not realize how bad that sounded? "Trish, the last thing I want to do is drag Austin down."

She left after that and I had gone upstairs to work on some new music. I wasn't even up there for five minutes when a boy with kind eyes and hair that flops just the right way was in the room with me.

"Dallas?" I gasped standing up.

"Hey Ally." he gave me a small smile that usually would have sent me into a tizzy, but ever since we separated I managed to calm myself down a little around him.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him looking around and feeling so uncomfortable.

"I really needed to talk to you Ally. I know this is random considering we haven't talked in like, five months-"

"Six months actually. Not that I'm keeping track, it's just-go on." I stopped talking.

"Anyway, I've been feeling like such a jerk for dumping you, especially since everyone was being so mean to you." Dallas explained.

"Were we even together? I mean, we went on a couple dates, but…" I trailed off.

"Yeah, we never really made it clear." Dallas laughed a little. "Anyway, do you think you could forgive me? 'Cause I'd really like for us to be friends."

I smiled. "Of course I forgive you Dallas." I motioned for him to come in for a hug.

"Do you think we could hang out later?" he asked, and I nodded.

After about 30 minutes of just talking, Dallas said he had to go. I started working on music again when I heard my dad talking to someone that definitely was not a customer.

I ran out onto the balcony that overlooked the entire store and my dad was trying to get Austin out of the store, but Austin had spotted me.

"Ally!" he began to squirm. "Ally, please! I need to talk to you! I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry! Ally!"

His desperation to talk to me was sad. It broke my heart even. But I thought about what Trish said. He didn't even want to be my friend. So why was he here, apologizing to me? Did he really want fame that bad?

He began to pound on the door, calling my name. My dad ignored it and went back to doing paperwork.

I began to pace around the practice room and shortly after that I started to chew my hair. I don't know why everyone thought it was so weird. It was actually very calming.

I went to the boxes filled with the junk that my dad had taken from the old practice room. He had tried to hide these from me but I had found them. There were pictures, posters, CD's, and tons of Austin Moon merchandise. There was the peanut butter, the doll, the pillow, the lunchbox, that horrible perfume bottle, and of course, the foam spitter.

I set all of the stuff on the floor and found the picture I was looking for. Or the pieces of the picture. It was my favorite one of me and Austin.

It was a picture that Dez had taken when Austin and I weren't looking. I had just written Austin It's Me, It's You and I was playing it for him on the piano. I was smiling and looking at the piano, and Austin was looking at me and smiling. It was one of the best moments I ever had.

We just looked so happy in that moment, and it was when I knew that Austin and I were best friends, even though we weren't alike.

But right after I dissolved our partnership, and Austin had left, I had grabbed the picture off of the fridge and torn it in half. Straight down the middle.

I stood, and stepped over the foam spitter. I set the picture on my desk next to the ancient piano.

Dez POV

"I'm telling you Austin, this will totally win Ally over. All you have to do is give her the flowers, and pickle basket, tell her you're sorry, and she'll forgive you." I said to him confidently.

"This is the stupidest plan I have ever heard." Trish said.

"Do you want to get Austin and Ally back together or not?" I asked feeling a little irritated.

"I want them back together even more than you do, I just don't see how this plan is going to work!" Trish snapped at me and we started arguing.

"Guys!" Austin exclaimed over us. "We're going to try Dez's plan."

"Ha!" I exclaimed triumphantly, and Trish glared at me.

"Okay. So Trish, you said you saw her reading her book in the food court right?" Austin asked and Trish nodded.

"Okay good. Dez, do you have the flowers and pickle basket?" Austin turned to me and I brought the two items out of my backpack.

"Do you even have to ask?" I bragged handing them to him.

"Alright, let's go."

We walked towards the food court, and we saw Ally…and Mindy! I squeaked and dragged them around the corner.

"Dez, what are you doing?" Austin asked.

"Mindy's right there!" I panic-whispered.

"Just relax, I don't think she see's you." Trish said calmly.

Austin took a deep breath. "I'm gonna go talk to her."

"To Mindy?"

"To Ally, Dez." Austin reminded me.

"Oh right."

He stepped towards her but froze. "Guys, I think she's on a date with Dallas."

"What?" we all peeked around the corner, and there Dallas was. Smelling like a fresh summer breeze and everything!

"How can she be on a date with Dallas?" Austin whisper-exclaimed.

"How can she be on a date with Dallas _and_ not tell me?" Trish exclaimed back.

"How can she be on a date with Dallas _and_ not tell me _and_ not be having tacos?" I exclaimed causing them to give me a weird look. "What? Tacos is a fabulous date meal."

Austin sighed. "Man, I can't interrupt their date." he handed me the pickle basket and walked over to Nelson. "Hey Nelson, can you go give these flowers to her?"

He pointed to Ally. Nelson nodded.

"Sure thing Austin!" Nelson ran off. He was going, going, going…straight passed Ally and to Mindy. Oh my God. Oh my God.

He pointed at us and Mindy grinned at me. Nelson ran back over.

"Nelson! You were supposed to give the flowers to Ally!" Austin exclaimed.

"Ah narts!" Nelson snapped his fingers.

"Uh guys!" Trish said nervously. "Mindy's coming over here!"

"Run!" we all shouted and I ran around, dove into a planter, and hid.

I don't know how long I was in the planter, but I had already eaten must of the pickles in the pickle basket. Then, I suddenly heard Ally and Dallas walking by.

I hopped out of the planter. "Ally!" I exclaimed and hugged her. "How've you been? Gonna work with Austin on that new song?"

Ally stared at me as if I had just grown a third head-which would be so cool-and Dallas smiled.

"Oh hey Dez." he greeted me. Such a nice guy. "Ally, you're working with Austin again?"

"No!" Ally assured him. "No, I wont ever work with Austin again."

Dallas frowned. "That's a shame. You and him were good together." he shrugged. "Well, I gotta go. It was nice seeing you again." he looked at me. "Uh, you too Dez."

"See you later buddy!" I waved goodbye. "You know Ally, Dallas is such a nice guy. Why did you ever let him go?"

Ally slapped me on the arm. "Dez, did Austin send you to spy on me?"

I stared at her. "What? No. I was just hiding from Mindy."

Ally looked a little disappointed. Hmm, did Ally like Austin?

"Oh right. But still I'm not going to work with him!" she said and stormed away.

I laughed, and shook my head. She sooo had a crush on Austin. I was gonna go after her, but I saw Mindy, so I dove in the planter again.


	4. 4: Sort Of Reunited

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

* * *

_Ally slapped me on the arm. "Dez, did Austin send you to spy on me?" _

_I stared at her. "What? No. I was just hiding from Mindy."_

_Ally looked a little disappointed. Hmm, did Ally like Austin?_

"_Oh right. But still I'm not going to work with him!" she said and stormed away._

_I laughed, and shook my head. She sooo had a crush on Austin. I was gonna go after her, but I saw Mindy, so I dove in the planter again. _

* * *

Ally POV

"Thanks for sorting through all this stuff with me guys. Everything has been so cramped." I said looking up from a box and at Dallas and Trish.

"It's no problem Ally. We're glad to help, right Trish?" Dallas smiled at we looked at her. She was sitting on a box and flipping through a magazine.

"Hm?" she asked looking up from the magazine. "Oh yeah. Glad to help."

"Trish!" I laughed pulling the box out from under her. I opened it up and saw all the Austin Moon merchandise. "Um actually, you can just sit on that."

"Wait, what is it-Ally." Dallas looked in the box and gave me a look. "You can't keep putting this off. Let's just put this in the keep box."

"What? Why? Austin an I aren't even friends anymore." Ally shrugged. "We should sell it."

"Ugh. No one wants that stuff. It's worthless. Austin's music sucks now." Trish said bluntly and sat on a new box. I frowned, and couldn't help but feel bad.

"Trish!" Dallas exclaimed and shot a look at me. "Anyway, maybe you should give it back to Austin. I bet he would appreciate it." Dallas pulled out a doll and pulled the string.

"_I'm awesome, I like pancakes." _

I smiled remembering the first time I went to his house to yell at him.

"Yeah, that's a good idea." I nodded. "Hey Trish, do you think you could take all this stuff to Austin?"

Trish looked up. "Um, that would involve work, and I don't do that."

I turned to Dallas with an awkward smile. "Hey Dallas-"

Dallas immediately started shaking his head. "No way. You have to face Austin sooner or later." he grabbed a bottle from the box. "What's this?"

"Austin's sweat." I replied.

"Oh!" Dallas dropped the thing back into the box with a disgusted look on his face. "Yeah, you should take this to him. Like now."

I frowned. "Maybe I should just sell this stuff…or throw it away." I didn't like that idea. All this stuff was proof that Austin and I were actually once friends, and even though I was so unbelievably mad at him, I never wanted to forget that.

"Ally-" Dallas started but he was cut off my phone ringing. I grimaced and shut it off considering my ring tone was the Insta-Cakes jingle. Trish shot me a smile.

"You do miss Austin!" she accused.

"What? Psh, no! I don't miss Austin." I laughed unconvincingly. My phone rang again, causing Dallas and Trish to laugh. I answered my phone. "Hello?" I growled.

"_Ally?" _my dad responded.

"Oh hey dad."

"_Hi sweetie. I'm going to go take my break, so I need you to come downstairs and watch the store."_

"Downstairs? Oh, okay."

"_What are you doing up there anyway?" _

"Hmm? Oh, nothing important." I closed my phone and turned to my friends. "I have to go work. You guys can leave if you want."

Trish stood up. "I'll come with you." we turned to Dallas.

"I'll just sort through some stuff. They don't need me at the libary today." he smiled and I winced at his mispronunciation.

* * *

I stared off into space and thought about Austin. This had been happening to me a lot, and I found myself staring at the sign that drove Austin away.

"Excuse me young lady!" A woman snapped her fingers in front of my face. I snapped out of the zone and turned towards her.

"Sorry. Here's your change." I handed her back her change.

She gave me a confused look."No that's the money I gave to you for this tambourine." She reminded me, holding up the instrument.

"Right I'm sorry." I apologized. "I'm just really focused about this guy that I used to be friends with but then we got in a fight and now I cant stop thinking about him and his dolls and his music and his sweaty cologne and-"

"Alright I'm just gonna go now." The lady rushed away.

"But ma'am, your change!" I shouted after her.

"Keep it!" She called back.

I sighed and put the money back in the register.

"Dang it. That's the third customer that ran away without their change." I said turning to Trish.

"Then maybe instead of complaining to the customers about your Austin problems you should, hmm I don't know, talk to Austin about them?" She offered and I grimaced.

"Eh, who really needs change any way?" I shrugged and Trish gave me a disapproving look. That's when I knew it was getting bad. If even Trish didn't approve, then you know its bad.

"Ally I'm back!" My dad sang and walked passed me.

"Hey dad, you know we can take the Anti-Austin sign down?" I suggested and he reacted like I expected.

"What?" He asked. "Ally, if we take down the sign then Austin will think it's okay for him to barge in unannounced."

"I was just thinking that its a little unnecessary considering Austin doesn't even come here anymore." I explained but my dad shook his head.

"Ally, that boy hurt you really bad. I don't want that to happen again." My dad sighed and held up his hand.

I smiled through my annoyance and we did our handshake."Boom." He smiled and walked away.

I was about to continue my work when I heard a strangled yelp from upstairs.

"Trish, you're in charge!" I commanded and ran up the stairs.

When I walked into the practice room, I couldn't stop laughing. Dallas was covered from head to waist in foam and he was holding the Austin Moon foam spitter.

"Oh you think that's so funny?" he said and turned the foam spitter towards me.

"Dallas, don't-" I tried but it was too late. I shrieked as I felt the foam cover me. "Alright, alright. Now we're both all foamy." I sighed and went to the closet. I handed him a towel. "Alright, you need to go home and change."

I walked him out; earning a few weird looks. I waved goodbye to Dallas, and turned around. I glared at the sign.

"Ally, I heard that you weren't giving change back, and that is just genius-what happened to your clothes?" my dad came up next to me.

"Dad, please get rid of the sign." I sighed and he nodded.

"Okay." he shrugged, folded up the sign, and walked away. I stared after him.

"Wait, what?" I asked walking after him. "Did you just say 'okay'?"

"Yeah." he nodded.

"Dad, just a couple minutes ago you were refusing to take it down." I said feeling ultimately confused.

"Ally, the only reason I put up that sign is because I know you. And I know that after what Austin did you wouldn't want to talk to him. I still didn't think you were ready when you mentioned it earlier today. But considering the fact that you're gonna return his stuff to him, I figured you're ready to forgive him." my dad explained. Yeah, that didn't make sense.

"So you weren't mad before?" I asked. "And who said anything about forgiving Austin?"

"Well of course I was mad before. I didn't think you deserved that at all, especially since you helped him out so many times." my dad said. "And sweetheart, I know Austin hurt you, but that boy never stopped caring about you. And I'd bet my Mercedes-"

"You don't have a Mercedes." I reminded him, but he kept going.

"-that Austin misses you and is sorry he ever even thought those words about you."

With those words in mind, I had gone up to the practice room and began to change into the spare clothes that I kept in the closet.

I sat on the floor of the practice room and rummaged through the box for Austin.

"Hey Ally!" Dez entered smiling. "Trish told me that you have a box I need to give to Austin."

I looked up at my goofy friend and smiled. "Dez do you think you could listen to me for a minute?"

"Sure, people tell me I'm a great listener!" he sat on the piano bench and stared at me.

"Okay, so everyone has been telling me that it's time to forgive Austin, and part of me agrees, but I don't if that's because my music career is suffering without him or if I miss him. My heart is telling me to forgive him, but my brain is telling me to keep away. I just, I don't think I can be friends with him right now, but does that mean that we can't ever be friends? Or am I just sounding crazy, Dez?" I asked and it was silent. "Dez?" I looked up to see Dez's head hanging and I was about to ask him what he was doing when he let out a huge snore. "Dez!" I exclaimed and he snapped back up wide awake.

"Huh, hmm, what?" he asked.

"Dez, I was trying to tell you that I miss Austin, but I can't be friends with him!" I explained quickly, and Dez thought about it for a second.

"Well, Austin doesn't really think he deserves to be your friend yet. He just wants to work with you again." Dez explained thoughtfully.

"But how do I know he wont take me for granted again?" I asked sounding like a little child.

Dez laughed. "Ally, that's what makes your guys' relationship so cool. You take each other for granted all the time, but you always stay together. At least you used to."

I stared at him. "When did you get so smart?"

"Oh I've always been smart, I just don't show it often." Dez said innocently, and his eyes widened at the foam spitter. "Oh awesome! The foam spitter!" he grabbed it. "I'm gonna go spray Trish with it!" he announced and ran out of the room.

I laughed at him and grabbed my laptop. Hesitantly, I clicked on the link to Austin's website and went to the most recent video of one of his original songs. I scrolled down the comments.

**Anonymous says: **_The song stinks, but the guy is cute._

**Hater231 says: **_The song is almost bearable if you turn the video on mute. _

I looked down at the box full of Austin's junk and made a snap decision that might have been a mistake.

* * *

I knocked on his bedroom door, and he answered almost immediately. Austin froze in the doorway and stared at me. It took him a good thirty seconds before he reacted.

"Ally? What-what are you doing here?" he asked.

I looked down at the box of stuff I had in my hands. "Um, I was going through some boxes of stuff in the practice room, and I thought you might like your old merchandise back."

He stared at me and I waited for him to invite me in.

"Um, can I come in?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Oh yeah, um sure." he opened the door widely and I walked in. The room looked exactly the same. Messy.

"So I have everything in here. Your pillows, lunchboxes, peanut butter, your horrible cologne, your dolls, and-"

"And the foam spitter?" Austin asked excitedly making me smile a little.

"And the foam spitter." I giggled. "Although I had to wrestle Dez for it back."

Austin smiled a little. "Thank Ally. It means a lot that you gave it back."

"Your welcome." I smiled and remembered what I had originally told myself. Don't look him in the eye, you will instantly forgive him. I blinked and stared at my feet. "Actually Austin, there's a reason I can down here and it wasn't just to give you the Austin Moon merchandise back."

"Um, it wasn't?" he asked nervously.

"I was actually thinking that maybe…maybe I could start helping you write a couple songs again?" I said.

"Really?" Austin asked excitedly. "Yes!" he exclaimed and jumped in the air.

"Of course," I rushed quickly. "The relationship would be completely professional and we can only meet in the food court after school, and I'm only helping you get back on your feet and teach you some song writing skills."

"Yeah, that's totally fine." he said, but he sounded a little less enthusiastic. "Thank you so much Ally."

Austin POV

Sure, it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. She didn't run into my room, give me a hug, and tell me that she would love to work with me and be my best friend again like I always imagined she would. But it was still a deal, and I would still get to see her after school.

But if she thought that this was just going to be professional, Ally Dawson had another thing coming.

**I know that most of this chapter was Ally's point of view, but I felt a little like I was mostly using Austin's POV.**


	5. 5: Professional Business Relationship

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

_Sure, it wasn't exactly what I was hoping for. She didn't run into my room, give me a hug, and tell me that she would love to work with me and be my best friend again like I always imagined she would. But it was still a deal, and I would still get to see her after school. _

_But if she thought that this was just going to be professional, Ally Dawson had another thing coming._

* * *

Austin POV

To say I was excited for after school was an understatement. I drummed on my desk with my pencils and stared at the clock. Well…I actually always did that, but still. This time I had a reason.

It was going to be my first session with Ally, and I was actually kind of nervous. But when the bell rang, all of that had gone away, and I almost ran out of the door.

Except for the fact that my teacher called me back.

"Austin! We need to talk." I grimaced and slowly made my way to the teacher's desk.

"Yes?" I asked impatiently.

"Austin, we need to talk about the quiz you took." she sighed, and I frowned.

"I'm sorry. I didn't study. I did my best. I'll do better next time." I rushed through all of my excuses and prepared to walk away as soon as she said I could.

"Austin, you got every single question correct." she said slowly. I stared at her,

"Huh?" I asked and grabbed the test. "Um, okay. So why do we need to talk?"

My teacher frowned at me. "Well, Austin, your previous test scores cause me to believe that you are not being completely truthful."

It took me awhile to completely understand what she was talking about.

"Wait, you think I cheated?" I asked her. "No! Mrs. Melvich, I just filled in the bubbles so it would make a smiley face. See!" I held up the test and traced over the smiley face.

She stared at me. "Well, I called your parents, and we're all going to have a lengthy discussion."

I groaned and slapped my hands over my face. Hopefully this wouldn't take too long.

Ally POV

I sat at a table in the food court and checked my watch again. Austin was, of course, late. Was he really going to do this to me? Did he only agree to do this to get back at me?

I gave Trish and Dez an annoyed look and they looked back at me nervously.

"He's just running a little late." Trish said and I rolled my eyes.

"Trish, he's almost an hour late. What can he possibly be doing that is so important?" I asked.

"Ally, Austin is so psyched about this, so what ever is taking him so long, it has to be important. It's not like he's off banging his head into the wall!" Dez laughed.

Austin POV

I was banging my head into my desk.

"Mrs. Melvich! Please, let me leave! I didn't cheat!" I groaned looking up at her.

She stared at me. "Austin, we need your parents here so we can talk."

"Hi! Hi! Sorry we ran a little late!" my mom announced running in and dragging my dad with her.

"It's fine. I just needed a few minutes of your time." Mrs. Melvich smiled angelically at my parents. "We need to talk about a test your son just took."

She handed my parents the test, and my mom gasped dramatically.

"Oh my goodness! My baby boy got an A on a test!" she had squealed and started hugging me.

"Mom!" I whined shrugging her off of me.

"Yes, yes, yes. Austin got an A on his test, but I…forgive me I don't mean to come off as rude-but I have reason to believe that he cheated." Mrs. Melvich sighed, and my parents gave me a look that either passed as 'You-Are-So-Grounded' or 'I-Am-So-Hungry'.

"I didn't cheat!" I exclaimed. "Mom, Dad. I swear." I said.

My dad leaned over and looked me in the eye. "Austin Monica Moon. Did you cheat on this test so you could get an A?"

"No!" I exclaimed feeling exhausted. "Besides, if I did actually cheat, I wouldn't be stupid enough to make sure I got an A! It would at least be a C!"

"You swear on your Insta-Cakes jingle?" my dad asked.

I got serious. "I swear on my Insta-Cakes jingle." I said and my dad leaned back nodding.

"You heard him. He didn't cheat." my dad settled and my teacher stared at him.

"That's it? Just because he swore on some jingle?" my teacher asked.

"Austin cares very much about his music." my mom said sincerely and smiled at me proudly.

My teacher opened her mouth as if she were about to fight with my parents, but she shrugged. "Alright. You may go." she said, and I bolted out of the room.

I was lucky that the high school was close by the mall because I ran the entire way. But still, by the time I was in the food court, I was panting.

I tripped over myself when I reached Ally's table. My friends all stared at me in shock as I laid my head down on the table.

"Austin what happened?" Trish spoke up.

"Seriously, are you okay?" Ally asked, her concerning side breaking through.

"Teacher…cheated…test…smiley face." I panted.

Ally and Trish stared at me in confusion.

"So, your teacher cheated on a test and gave you a smiley face?" Trish asked staring at me as if I had suddenly lost my mind.

"What? No." Dez shook his head. "Austin's teacher held him back because she thought he cheated on a test, but he actually just drew a smiley face."

I pointed at Dez and nodded in a daze, and I smiled a little as understanding dawned upon them

"Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhh." they said together and nodded slowly.

After a few sips of water, I was ready to get started.

"Alright, well I think we'll just start off on how to actually write a song." Ally explained, and pulled out a notepad and a pencil.

"I feel like getting some chips and salsa." Dez announced standing up and he looked at Trish. "You wanna come with?"

Trish looked at us, and nodded. "Yeah."

I watched them walk away. "You know, they've been hanging out a lot. Have you noticed?"

"Focus Austin!" Ally snapped her fingers in my face and passed me the notepad and pencil. "Alright, I'm going to give you some tips on how to make a good song, and you're going to take notes."

I stared at her wondering if she were actually serious.

"What?" she asked self consciously.

"Um, I didn't think that I would be taking notes. I just thought that you would tell me your secret to songwriting, and we'd work a couple out. Kinda like when we wrote Break Down The Walls." I admitted and she stared at me.

"Austin, writing a song takes a lot of time, and steps, and dedication." she said seriously. I held my hands up in surrender, and did my best to listen to her. "Okay, so the first step is to pick a title for your song. Something that means something to you, something that speaks to you."

30 MINUTES LATER

Ally POV

I was really surprised at Austin. He was actually listening to every word I said, and writing down notes. He was so focused on what he was scribbling down, he almost looked more focused than I get. Almost.

But, inevitably, Austin set his pencil down and began to complain.

"Ally, can we please take a break? I've taken enough notes." he sighed, but then perked up. "Why don't you show me an example? I bet you've got tons of songs in your book!" he reached across the table for my book but I quickly snatched it away.

"Don't touch my book." I said giving the blonde boy a sharp look. "And fine. But let me see your notes first." I commanded and reached for the notepad in his hands, but he leaned away from my hand.

"Um, that's hardly necessary. I mean, you probably can't even read it." he laughed nervously.

"Austin, give me your notes." I said slowly, and he sighed. He flipped it around so I could see.

It was a drawing. A drawing of a yellow music note with his name in it.

"What-how?" I looked at him with a mix of shock and anger. "How did you even make the note yellow?" was what I finally exclaimed.

"Oh, I switched out pencils when you weren't looking." he said smiling childishly and held up a yellow pencil.

"Austin!" I exclaimed in anger. "That entire time you weren't even taking notes?"

He shook his head vigorously. "Yes I was! Look!" he flipped over the page to reveal three 1 sentenced bullet points above a drawing of what I could only assume was Godzilla attacking a city.

I snatched all the stuff from him and began to throw it into my bag.

"Honestly Austin, I don't know why you even agreed to this if you weren't gonna take this seriously." I said angrily, and stood up to walk away but I felt him grab my hand.

For some reason this made my heart stutter, which didn't make sense because this was a minor touch considering we had hugged before.

"Ally, wait!" he panicked and stood up. "Pease don't leave. I really want this to work out between us." he said and I involuntarily blushed.

"Austin," I yanked my hand out of his. "this is strictly a business relationship; not a friendship. So, I need you to take this seriously. Because we don't - I mean, you don't want another catastrophe like that song Syrup On My Pancakes."

Austin grimaced. "Hey, I followed one of those crazy steps you were talking about. Syrup on my pancakes really means something to me." he defended and I fought hard not to laugh. "So you really didn't like any of my songs?" he asked sounding a little hurt.

"Well, there was one song that interested me. The lyrics definitely had some potential, and there was some feeling in there, but it didn't really…go anywhere." I explained and then got an idea. "Maybe we can try and build on that song. And it could be like, your comeback."

Austin grinned. "Yes! That sounds great! Austin Moon's Comeback!" he said in his best announcer's voice. "Team Austin is back!" he cheered holding his hand up for a high five, but then realized what he said. "Oh, I mean…Austin is back." he amended a lot less enthusiastically.

I frowned. For a second it was almost back to old times, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't tempting.

But I couldn't go down that road with Austin again. I was too much of a coward. Like Austin had said in his blog.

"Yeah, Austin is back." I nodded, and we were silent, but Austin turned to me, suddenly grinning.

"So you listen to my songs?" he asked looking triumphant.

I panicked. "Psh, no. Trish just…showed a few to me, from time to time." I said throwing my hair back.

Austin frowned and I did a mini happy dance. He believed me!

"Oh. Okay. Well, where do we start?" he asked looking over my shoulder since I had started scribbling things down in my journal. When I looked up, I noticed how uncomfortably close he was and my heart started beating faster again.

"Austin," I said through my teeth. "Professional business relationship space please."

"Oh." he scooted over and smiled at me. "Sorry."

We were quiet for awhile, so I sat down and started writing some things down for the song. Austin threw some things out occasionally and I wrote them down.

"Ally, have you forgiven me yet?" he asked and when I didn't respond fast enough he kept talking. "Because I was wrong you know. There's no way I could ever do this without you." he said sincerely and my throat tightened.

No way. Stop it Ally! You are not going down this road again.

"Professional business relationship means no deep feeling chit chat." I said in a voice that was barely above a whisper. Austin slumped and he was quiet again. But not for long.

"So are you and Dallas actually dating again?" he asked.

I slammed my book closed and put it in my bag.

"_Professional. Business. Relationship._" I murmured slowly and Austin's face fell. "So good session. We'll pick this up tomorrow. And please don't be late." I reminded him and he nodded.

He walked away from me and didn't even look back. I couldn't help but think that I did the same thing to him.

"And no. I'm not dating Dallas." I said, but I don't think he heard me.

**So originally, I planned for this to be my small mini break from my more serious tragedies and 1 comedy, so this was just supposed to be a short 10 chapter story. Which means that this story is half over. But I honestly no longer have any control of how long this story will be. So just...hang on and enjoy the ride.**


	6. 6: Surprise Guest

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

"_Professional. Business. Relationship." I murmured slowly and Austin's face fell. "So good session. We'll pick this up tomorrow. And please don't be late." I reminded him and he nodded. _

_He walked away from me and didn't even look back. I couldn't help but think that I did the same thing to him. _

"_And no. I'm not dating Dallas." I said, but I don't think he heard me._

* * *

Austin POV

I felt so amazing after my song writing session. Sure, Ally kept reminding me that we were only in a professional business relationship, and I got in trouble for doodling, but I found out that she wasn't dating Dallas, and we're working on a new song for my comeback! It's gonna be great!

I sat upside down on my bed with Dez next to me.

"How is the writing sessions going?" Dez asked, his face a blotchy red.

I smiled. "It's going great! Ally and I are working on a new song for my comeback!"

Ally POV

I was just selling a brand new trumpet when Trish barged in.

"Guess who got a job at Party People?" she shouted causing me to drop the trumpet on the customer's foot.

"I am so sorry sir!" I apologized, put the trumpet in it's case, and handed it to him. He gave me a pained look and began to limp away. "Don't forget to ice your foot!" I called after him getting a few weird looks.

"Don't forget to slice my what?" Trish shouted again.

"Trish! You're shouting!" I said loudly, and her confused look turned to one of understanding.

"Oh." she took out her earplugs. "Sorry. Party People keep their music really loud and get's really hard to nap. Can you believe how inconsiderate people can be?"

I stared at her. "Hardly."

"So how's the sessions going?" Trish asked.

I gave a nervous laugh. "Ha, heh. Great, wonderful, terr-"

"-ible?" Trish finished. "But I just talked to Dez and he said Austin said things are going great."

"Well he would think so." I laughed. "He doesn't really do any of the work. It's like I'm partners with him again." I sighed, but looked up at my best friend. "Speaking of Dez, you guys have been spending an awful amount of time together? It's both sweet and weird."

Trish rolled her eyes but she was smiling a little. "Nothing!"

Austin POV

"I don't know." Dez shrugged. "I mean, usually when I'm with Trish we just argue and yell at each other, but now, we kind of get along."

I smiled. "So do you like her?"

Dez tried to shrug. "Um, I don't know. We're just-"

Ally POV

"-friends. We're just friends." Trish said when I asked her about Dez.

"Mhmm. Sure you are." I said and she rolled her eyes. "Anyways, we just got this new shipment of rainbow colored harmonicas, you have to check it out!"

Austin POV

"Austin, check this out! I'm gonna drink this water, upside down!" Dez laughed and took a huge gulp of water. "Okay, it's going, it's going. It's gone!" he announced, but then his eyes got big and he frowned. "Oh no. It's coming back down! Austin it's coming back down!"

I sat up quickly and brought him with me. He coughed and then looked at me thankfully.

"Thanks Austin. That was close." Dez sighed, and I smiled.

"Aw, it was nothing." I smiled shyly.

Dez frowned and looked at his watch. "Um Austin, we need to leave now, or else we'll be really late to practice."

After combing my hair slightly and picking out a good enough shirt, I was ready. But unfortunately, Dez wasn't.

"Austin do you think these pants go with this shirt?" Dez asked holding up a pair of pants.

I gave him a look. "Dez…obviously your pink and orange pants go with your yellow shirt." I laughed and he nodded.

We hitched a ride with my mom who seemed like she wanted to take her sweet time, and then we ran to the food court…straight into Mindy.

"Hi Dezzy-Cakes." she smiled at Dez who looked afraid. I couldn't blame him.

"Mindy!" Dez exclaimed unenthusiastically. "hi!"

She smiled at him. "I got your flowers! Why didn't you give them to me yourself?" she ordered.

"I-I just…I'm intimidated by you?" Dez said but it sounded more like a question. I could see Mindy was getting fired up so I interrupted.

"He means he's shy. He's just really shy." I said quickly, and she smiled bashfully at Dez.

"Dezzy Pop! You don't have to be shy!" Mindy laughed. "But next time, send me pink Carnations."

"Why pink?" I asked giving small laugh of nervousness. She glared at me.

"Pink Carnations mean gratitude." she said in a 'duh' voice.

"What-what am I grateful for again?" Dez asked nervously.

Mindy glared at him. "That I'm letting you send me flowers."

Dez nodded and faked a loud laugh, though it looked more like he was in pain. "Right, right. Of course." he gave a tortured sigh. "Well we have to go practice now."

Mindy grabbed Dez before we could run away and she pushed me forward.

"I don't think Austin needs you. Right Austin?" Mindy asked and Dez kept mouthing 'help me'.

"Well…" I scratched my head and Mindy glared at me, and stepped towards me menacingly. I looked at Dez helplessly, but then Trish popped up.

"Mindy, let go of Dez." she ordered, and Mindy let him go but she stepped up to Trish.

"Or else what?" she asked, but Trish didn't back down. This was getting intense.

"No 'or else'. Just let my-" Trish looked like she was choking on her tongue. "-my boyfriend go." she said through clenched teeth.

We all stared at her open mouthed. She nodded unconvincingly, walked forward, and - though it looked like it killed her - she threaded her fingers through Dez's and tugged him away.

Mindy turned to me. "How can he be dating her?" she growled and leaned away from her with my hands up in surrender.

"I-uh. I'm just gonna go." I said and ran away after the 'happy couple'.

I laughed the entire way to the table while Dez and Trish made sure Mindy wasn't watching so they could stop holding hands.

At least, I was laughing. Until I saw Dallas and Ally sitting at the table laughing.

Ally POV

Dallas was just finishing this hilarious story when Trish, Dez, and Austin walked up.

"Hey guys." I said still giggling a little. But then I gave Austin an annoyed look. "Right on time."

"Huh?" he asked looking at his watch in confusion.

"You're 15 minutes late. Every practice." I grumbled and he shrugged and sat across from me.

"Hey Dallas." he said when I brought out my book. "What are you doing here? I thought you guys weren't dating."

I glared at him. Whatever happened to professional business relationship? "Not that it's any of your business as my _professional business partner_, but we're not dating." I said through my teeth and Austin smiled slightly.

"Yeah, Ally just invited me to come here because I had nothing else to do." Dallas explained.

"So Ally…we are partners?" Austin asked making me look up from my book.

"What?" I asked.

"You said we were professional business partners. Does that mean we're partners again?" Austin asked and his eyes glimmered with hope.

_Don't look him in the eye, Ally. _I reminded myself. _You'll forgive him instantly. _

I looked at Dallas for help but he was just watching us amused.

"No, we're not partners." I said. "If anything, you're my just my short-term student."

Austin nodded and gave me that awkward smile that made my heart flutter for some strange reason.

Our session was going pretty well, but Austin kept asking Dallas really personal questions.

"So Dallas, you have a crush on anyone in particular?" Austin asked and that was the last straw.

"Austin, leave him alone!" I demanded, and they looked at me shocked.

Trish and Dez had left out of boredom a few personal questions back.

"What? You said I couldn't ask you any personal questions because we're not friends. Me and Dallas are friends, right Dallas?" Austin asked innocently.

"Uh, I guess." Dallas said and shrugged.

Finally Austin was quiet, but it didn't last long.

"So who do you have a crush on Ally?" Austin asked suddenly and I gave him a look. "What?"

"Austin, you just said you can't ask me personal questions." I reminded him tiredly.

He shrugged. "I'm just curious. You know. As your student."

I shook my head. "No Austin. I think I don't have a crush on anyone." I said and I really did start to think about it. But all I could think about was Austin and how he used to make me feel 2 inches tall, but he could also make me feel like I won the lottery.

"You think?" he asked sounding far away.

I shook my head again to clear my thoughts. "Um, I mean-no I don't have a crush on anyone."

"Then what are all those songs you wrote about?" he asked and I stared at him.

"Songs-did you watch my videos?" I asked feeling horrified. Those videos weren't meant for anyone to ever see! How did he see it?

Austin nodded looking a little embarrassed. "It was kind of easy to hack into your account. Your password was pickles." he said. "And, we weren't talking for 6 moths. I missed you."

We stared at each other for a solid minute and Dallas stood up awkwardly.

"I'm gonna go get a soda." he said awkwardly and practically ran away.

"So," I said breaking his gaze and showed him the parts of the song that I was working on. "I figured that this song should be more catchy and upbeat like your other songs. So in the beginning of the song, it's catchy and easy enough to clap to." I explained and he nodded.

"Ally, not that I'm criticizing you or anything, but why is the song taking so long?" he asked and I gave him a look.

"I told you Austin. It takes a long time to work on a song." I said and looked at the song. "Especially when you're working with such raw material." I teased lightly.

"Hey!" Austin exclaimed in a fake insulted voice making me laugh until I realized that we were supposed to be in a professional business relationship.

* * *

The next day at practice I walked up to the table after contemplating the events that had taken place yesterday.

"Hey Ally!" Austin greeted smiling at me.

"Austin." I nodded to him, and couldn't help but smile a little. "I think - I think we might need to set some boundaries so nothing like yesterday happens again."

"Ally, yesterday was great!" he exclaimed. "In fact, maybe we can work over dinner?" he said tentatively making my heart drop.

I froze, and Trish and Dez looked up excitedly. "You mean…like a date?"

Austin swallowed and he ruffled with his hair nervously, but before he could answer, he was interrupted by a feminine voice.

"Hey Blondie. Miss me?"

I looked over Austin's shoulder and couldn't help but frown.

**Please review! I think my favorite part was when Austin and Ally were talking to Dez and Trish about relationships. **


	7. 7: A Crush Is A Crush Is A Crush

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

* * *

"_Ally, yesterday was great!" he exclaimed. "In fact, maybe we can work over dinner?" he said tentatively making my heart drop. _

_I froze, and Trish and Dez looked up excitedly. "You mean…like a date?" _

_Austin swallowed and he ruffled with his hair nervously, but before he could answer, he was interrupted by a feminine voice._

"_Hey Blondie. Miss me?" _

_I looked over Austin's shoulder and couldn't help but frown._

* * *

Austin POV

I turned around at the sound of the voice that usually would have made my heart beat a million miles a minute.

"Cassidy?" I laughed in surprise.

She smiled at me. "The one and only." She held her arms open as if she were waiting for a hug and I ran over willingly.

I brought her over to my friends and immediately noticed Ally was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd Ally go?" I asked and Trish gave me a smile that was definitely fake.

"She said she forgot something at Sonic Boom." Trish said and looked at Cassidy. "Hey Cassidy. How are you?"

Cassidy smiled and took Ally's seat next to me. "I'm great! My band's album is coming out soon!"

"That's great Cassidy. I'm really happy for you." I smiled at her and she grinned at me.

"Thanks Blondie." She said sincerely. "So...I think you owe me a date."

I stiffened and Cassidy noticed. Her smile fell. "Unless you don't want to, that's fine."

I struggled to get the words out. "No, no! Really! A date would be great." Clearly by the way Ally acted, she wasn't interested in me. So I had to do what I could to get rid of these...feelings.

"Okay." Cassidy smiled happily."So there's a new restaurant that opened. You wanna go check it out?"

I looked at my clothes hesitantly. "Don't you think I look a little...under dressed? I mean, don't I have to wear a tux or something?"

Cassidy laughed and shook her head. "Nah, you look fine Blondie. Let's go!" She grabbed my wrist and started towing me away, giving me enough time to wave goodbye to my friends.

I sat across from her and stared at the menu feeling so confused. There were really complicated names of meals and words in French. Cassidy was talking nonstop about LA and normally, I would've been into it, but my mind kept wandering to Ally. Where our date would be, what we would talk about, and what we would eat.

I looked up and Cassidy was staring at me expectantly. I think she asked me a question. I thought back to my conversations with the supposed 'Love Whisperer' aka Dez.

"Whenever she asks you a question, just nod."

It seemed like good advice, so I nodded. Cassidy smiled a little and sat her menu down.

"Okay Blondie. Who is it?" She asked and I tried my best to look surprised.

"W-what?" I coughed.

She rolled her eyes. "Austin, I can tell you're not into this date. You're wishing someone else was here. So who is it?"

I swear, that was the first time I had ever heard her call me Austin.

"What? No way Cassidy. I'm totally into this date, and you!"

"It's Ally isn't it?" She asked. "Come on Austin. Even when you sang me that song, you were singing it to her too."

What was she talking about? I didn't even like Ally back then.

"Yes. I like Ally...but I am trying to get over her!" I insisted and Cassidy shook her head.

"And that's what I'm for right?" She asked and I gave her a small sad smile.

"Unfortunately." I sighed. "I'm really sorry Cassidy. Its a really jerk-ish thing for me to do."

"Don't sweat it Blondie. Can we at least finish our date first?" She asked.

I grinned. "Of course we can. But just a question, what is ter-ah-miss-ooh?"

She laughed and took the menu away from me, and she looked around. "It's tiramisu Blondie. Come on. Let's get out of here. I know this great pancake place that you'll love!" she grabbed my hand and towed me away.

I grinned, but felt bad. She was ditching a place she was clearly into and taking me to a PANCAKE house. How could I not like her?

I don't know. I just didn't.

Ally POV

I sat alone in the practice room, flipping through pictures.

"Hey Ally." Trish greeted walking in with Dez.

I smiled sadly at her. "Hi Trish, Dez." I stared at a picture of all four of us. "Where's Austin?" I asked and they exchanged a look. I sighed. "Out on a date with Cassidy?" I asked and they nodded. "That's…great. I'm really happy for him." I said through my teeth and Trish shook her head.

"No you're not." she said.

"Which I don't really get." Dez said. "I mean, he asked you out, and you obviously didn't want to go."

I shook my head. "You don't know what I was going to say." I sighed. "And he just wanted a business dinner date."

Trish laughed. "Ally, it was so a date."

I shrugged. "Well if it was…I don't think I would go."

"HA!" Dez exclaimed and when we all looked at him he shrugged. "I was right…"

Trish rolled her eyes and turned back to me. "So, you're still mad at him?" she asked.

I stood up and stared at the piano remembering the first time I heard Austin sing. Sure, he was correcting my song process, blew old lady spit on me, and eventually stole the song, but even then I thought he was amazing, and maybe had the teeniest tiniest smallest possibility of a crush on him.

But then we became friends, and I started crushing on Dallas. Those feelings were gone, but…recently, it sort of felt like they were back. But stronger.

"No." I said to Trish finally. "I'm just confused."

"Confused about what?" Dez asked.

I sighed and played a short note on the piano over and over again.

"Nothing…everything…I don't know." I said scrunching my eyebrows together.

"Wow. You are confused." Dez said bluntly and bit into his sandwich.

"Where did you-" I asked pointing to the sandwich.

"It was in a box." Dez shrugged making me and Trish shudder.

"Ally…we never really talked about it because you were dating Dallas-" Trish started.

"Were you and Dallas even-" Dez began but Trish gave him a look. "Sorry. Go on."

"Anyway, we never really talked about it because you and Dallas were together, but…" she hesitated but I gave her a look that said 'go ahead'. "Do you have a crush on Austin?"

I stared at my hands. "Even if I did, it doesn't matter. He's dating Cassidy."

Dez stared at me with a weird look on his face. "So is that a yes? 'Cause it sounds like one."

I looked at Dez and realized that he was Austin's best friend. If I admitted my feelings he would tell Austin in a heartbeat. Panicked, I quickly denied it.

"No! No, I don't like Austin. I don't have any romantic feelings toward Austin. Not even a little bit." I shook my head fiercely.

Trish studied my face quickly and then she smiled. She took off her Party People smock and threw it in Dez's face.

"Dez go to Party People and tell them I quit." she ordered.

Surprisingly, Dez left almost immediately without any argument.

I raised my eyebrows at Trish and pointed at Dez's retreating figure questionably.

Trish nodded happily. "I know! I have him well trained and everything!" she shook her head. "Anyway, do you have a crush on Austin?"

I looked around even though there wasn't anybody in the room. I nodded and she all but squealed.

"But just an itsy bitsy one. Nothing to be blown out of proportion." I said quickly and she shook her head.

"No way. A crush is a crush _is a crush_!" she said excitedly and I stared at her.

"What?" I asked, and she shrugged.

"I picked it up from Dez. You're lucky I used the short one." she laughed, and I shook my head.

"But this can't work. I don't even want to be friends with him!" I exclaimed and she smirked at me.

"Well it sounds like you want a little bit more than that." she giggled, and I gave her an exasperated look.

Austin POV

I had just dropped Cassidy at home with my colored rocket ship menu as a gift. I was walking around at the mall when I ran into Dez who was carrying a multicolored vest with sparkles everywhere.

"Dez?" I asked. "Where are you going?"

He stopped and waved at me. "Hey Austin. Just heading to Party People to let them know Trish quit."

I tilted my head to the side. "Seriously, do you have a crush on her? You've been doing a lot of stuff for her."

Dez sighed heavily. "No Austin. We're just friends." he looked up and thought about it. "That's weird. We're friends. Not something I would think would describe me and Trish."

I laughed. "Well I was just heading to Sonic Boom to talk with Ally about my comeback."

"Oh, speaking of Ally and crushes; I think Ally has a crush on you, man." Dez said seriously.

"What?" I asked perking up and grabbed his arms. "Why do you think that? Did she say something? Speak!"

Dez smiled serenely. "There's something oddly comforting of being held like this."

I shook him. "Dez!"

"Right, sorry." he tugged himself out of my grip. "Well she didn't say it in so many words…she actually denied it a lot, but I could just tell. Do you still have a crush on her?"

I sighed and felt a little let down. "Yeah. But I'm trying to get rid of them."

He shook his head quickly. "You can't do that! She's your crush and a crush is a crush is a crush is a crush is a crush _is a crush_!"

I sighed. "I know that a crush is a crush is a crush is a crush is a crush is a crush, but what's the point if she doesn't even feel the same way?"

Dez shook his head. "I'm telling you Austin, she has a crush on you."

"I better go talk to her then. I'll let you know how it goes, 'kay?" I said slowly walking away from him.

"Yeah, I gotta go quit for Trish or else she'll get all mad and wont give me my treat." Dez sighed heavily and trudged on.

I walked up into Sonic Boom, waved hesitantly to Mr. Dawson who watched me through narrowed eyes, and knocked on the practice room door.

"Oh!'' Trish answered surprised to see me. "I'll just leave you to alone." she said not-so-subtly and walked away awkwardly.

"Hey Ally." I smiled and walked into what would be the second worst conversation I ever had in my life.

**So the whole 'a crush is a crush is a crush is a crush is a crush **_**is a crush!' **_**is just something my friend would say to annoy me, and I thought it was something Dez would TOTALLY say. **


	8. 8: And Criers

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything.**

* * *

_I walked up into Sonic Boom, waved hesitantly to Mr. Dawson who watched me through narrowed eyes, and knocked on the practice room door._

"_Oh!'' Trish answered surprised to see me. "I'll just leave you to alone." she said not-so-subtly and walked away awkwardly. _

"_Hey Ally." I smiled and walked into what would be the second worst conversation I ever had in my life._

* * *

Austin POV

"Hey Austin." Ally said attempting to smile, but it just came out awkward.

"Why'd you leave?" I asked and she looked up at me.

"How was your date with Cassidy?" She asked dodging the question completely.

"I don't think there will be a second date." I gave her my little 'oh well' smile.

She smiled sympathetically and gave me an awkward - yet comforting - pat on the shoulder.

"That's…unfortunate." she struggled and I smiled subtly.

"Yeah."

We stood there awkwardly until I cleared my throat. "So, about that dinner."

She looked up at me. "Austin I don't think that's a good idea." She blurted out making my bones lock in place. "We need to maintain our-"

"Professional business relationship." I muttered angrily. I was really starting to hate those words. "Ally you keep saying that but I know that you don't mean it! You want to be friends! I know you do! Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't." I grabbed her by the shoulders to force her to look me in the eyes. She stared at me and I got this weird feeling in my stomach. It felt like when the umbrella took my pants off. Something about being with Ally this way made me feel…exposed. I didn't like it, but I did at the same time.

But when I looked back at Ally she looked shocked and a little hurt. "Why are you yelling at me?" She asked and I let her go.

"I don't know. I just…I miss you Ally. And I'm frustrated that you don't feel the same." I sighed and sat at the piano.

"You think I don't feel the same?" She asked and sat next to me. "Austin, I want to be your friend. Really badly."

I looked up and smiled. "You do? That's great!"

I went in for a hug but she stood up and began to pace nervously."Which is why it hurts me to say this." She said and I felt like I was just dropped off of a roller coaster. "I think you should go back to writing your own songs."

Time froze.

"But-what about us?" I asked and everything started to sound far away.

"And I don't think we should see each other too often." She said and I honestly wanted to be able to melt through the floor.

Ally POV

I watched as Austin understood this and I began to impulsively clean.

"You're still mad at me." Austin said finally and I stopped straightening a stack of papers.

"What?" I asked and Austin turned around to face me.

"You're still mad at me for writing that stuff about you." He said sounding a little annoyed.

I shook my head and continued to bustle around but he followed me.

"Austin I'm not mad at you for that- I mean, I'm not mad at you at all." I stuttered and shook my head. Austin kept following me.

"Wait, then what are you mad at me for?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I'm not mad at you, Austin. Drop it." I commanded.

"No. I deserve to know why you're mad at me. I need to know so I can apologize for it and-" I cut across him in a fit of anger.

"You weren't there for me, Austin!" I blurted finally. He stopped speaking and we just stared at each other.

"What?" He asked looking more confused than the time when I demanded a ham for my song writing services. His eyes even squinted as if he were trying to get a better look at me.

I sighed and leaned against my desk. "After your little fit over the Internet…people started talking about me, and it was really hard for me. And you weren't there for me."

He stared at me as if I sprouted wings from my ears and flew away. "Ally, you didn't want me around!"

I rubbed my fists in my eyes as if I were rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. "I know and I feel so confused! I am so angry at you for writing those things about me but I'm even more angry that you weren't there for me! You've been there to help me and protect me through everything! And them I'm even angrier at myself for needing you!"

Austin let out a huge sigh and ran his hand through his hair. It stayed upward making his blond hair tousled and spikey. "1, that makes no sense at all. And 2, you didn't care about me anymore. You cut me out of your life. How can you say that you needed me?"

I stared at him for a second to absorb all the words that he had said. I walked over to one of the boxes and grabbed my MyPod. I put it in his hands and looked into his eyes.

"I tried to cut you out of my life Austin. I really tried. But I could never stop caring about you." I said gave him a sad shrug and walked passed him.

Austin POV

As Ally walked away from me I felt like my lips do when I hold ice cream on them. Except it was all over my body.

Through my haze, I could only think of one thing. "So, you're not going to help me with my comeback?" I mumbled and Ally gave me an unfortunate grimace.

"I'm sorry Austin. But you'll do fine without me." She said and left the room.

I stood alone in the practice room trying to think of what to do. Part of me wanted to talk it out with Ally, part of me wanted to run away…and then another part of me wanted pancakes like, really really badly.

So I grabbed my coat and walked downstairs...and right into Mr. Dawson."Hi Mr. Dawson. I was just leaving." I said and he stared at me.

"Um, okay." He looked at Ally. "Listen, just give Ally some time. She just needs to grieve a little bit."

I stared at Mr. Dawson. I usually never heard him speak so seriously.

"Thanks Mr. D." I smiled sadly and began to walk away but he grabbed my arm and put a fistful of change in my hand. His hand and the change were slightly wet, hinting that he had gone fishing in the mall fountain.

"I'll probably steal them back later, but you should go wish." He looked back at Ally again. "I lied. Ally is a tough nuy to crack." I nodded feeling awkward.

I walked by Ally on the way out but she didn't look at me.

Amazingly enough, I had more than enough change for pancakes at the Pancake Hut. Even though I had just eaten to my heart's content with Cassidy, I really felt like eating.

Melanie, the ancient waitress that was serving me, smiled when she saw the last penny I had.

"You should throw that in the fountain. Make a wish." She suggested and walked away with my plate.

I walked up to the fountain with my penny feeling really stupid.

"What do I wish for?" I asked myself. I had so many things to wish for but I only had one penny. "I need a really good comeback but I really want Ally to be with me. But I also want an unlimited supply of pancakes and syrup." I contemplated. And then I came up with a plan. "I just want everything to work out with Ally." I said and flipped the coin in. But then I realized I didn't say 'I wish'.

"Wait!" I exclaimed trying to catch it but I just fell into the fountain. "Man!" I whined and slapped the water.

A lot of people stared at me as I struggled out of the fountain and to make matters worse, someone called security and I was escorted out of the mall. Apparently it was against the rules to go swimming in the mall fountain. When I got back home I went straight to my room, ignoring my mom's complaints about ruining the carpet.

After taking a long hot shower - okay, it's was a bath - fine, it was a bubble bath! Anyway, after taking a nice bubble bath, I was lying in bed and fiddling with Ally's MyPod. Even though it was in my pocket when I fell in the fountain it was completely fine. Ally must've gotten the water-proof one.

Finally I turned it on and it immediately took me to her most listened to play list. An to my amazement, the entire play list was my songs and jingles. All of them, even though they were all horrible!

And the one she played the most was my Insta-Cakes jingle.

Was she trying to tell me something? Did Ally really like me…as in more than a friend?

I went to my computer and went to my Internet diary. After the fight with Ally I had put the website as undetectable. Then I triple checked that it was undetectable.

I re-read everything I had posted about Ally and actually looked at it through her eyes. Before she had read it, she had told me that I was a great person and friend. I finally understood how badly she was hurt. And not only was she hurt, but she couldn't trust me.

I sighed, and grabbed my phone. Luckily I had left it at home, so it didn't take any damage from the fountain.

Two hours later, my room was filled with everyone on my contact list -with the exception of Ally- from some of my closest of friends to some people I didn't really like all that much.

"Austin, what are we doing here?" Trish asked glaring at Mindy who was hung up on Dez.

"Mindy, I told you last time, Trish and I are dating now." Dez all but cried.

Mindy glowered at him and Trish. "Actually Austin told me you two broke up." she turned her glare on me. "You weren't lying were you?"

I shook my head and my best friend shot me a look of horror.

"Anyway!" I said loudly and looked away from the three people that were glaring at me. "I brought all of you here today because I'm pretty sure you all know what happened between me and Ally."

Cassidy gave me a look. "I saw it. And I couldn't believe you would write something so filled with hate, Blondie."

I looked at her guiltily and my eyes nearly bugged out at the sight of her almost holding hands with Dallas. Well that was good. Two exes out of the way.

"I know what you mean Songbird." Mindy agreed.

"Wait, you didn't like what I said about Ally?" I asked feeling even more surprised.

Mindy shook her head. "Sure it was a little funny because…well, I hate her. But you guys are friends. Close friends. Ally is really, really annoying, but she didn't deserve that kind of hate."

I winced as several people voiced their agreements. Even my so-called best friends.

"Okay! I agree, what I did was bad!" I huffed. "But I have an idea on how to make it up to her, and I need all of your guys' help." everyone murmured their agreement. "Okay. So I talked with Chester earlier and taught him the choreography. He'll teach all of you the dance moves, but Mindy, I need you real quickly!"

I took her to the side while my buddy Chester taught everyone the choreography.

"So do you know a lot about flowers and their meanings?" I asked and she nodded."

"It's my hobby." she said blatantly and I had to stifle a laugh. "Did I say something funny?" she asked menacingly.

I gulped and shook my head. "I need flowers for Ally."

"Okay. I know the perfect flowers." she said. "You need to get red, white, and yellow tulips. Oh, and pink carnations.

"What do those mean?" I asked and she rolled her eyes.

"Just get the flowers!" she ordered and stomped away.

I looked over to all my friends and others who were working on the dancing when I noticed Dallas, the poor soul, who was having major issues.

"Hey Dallas, you need help?" I asked, and Cassidy looked up at me.

"I got it Austin." she winked at me, and I held my hands up.

"Alright." I nodded smiling slightly and walked over to Trish. "Hey did you bring what I asked you to?"

She nodded looking confused and handed me Ally's book. "What do you need this for?" she asked.

"I'm gonna finish the song." I told her and went over to my desk. I began to flip through the pages, and I pretty much prayed that she would forgive me.


	9. 9: The Flash Mob

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

* * *

"_Alright." I nodded smiling slightly and walked over to Trish. "Hey did you bring what I asked you to?"_

_She nodded looking confused and handed me Ally's book. "What do you need this for?" she asked. _

"_I'm gonna finish the song." I told her and went over to my desk. I began to flip through the pages, and I pretty much prayed that she would take me back. _

* * *

Ally POV

It's been a week since I last talked to Austin, and he hasn't even tried to talk to me. I know what I said, and I completely agree with it, but part of me wishes he would just try.

And to make matters worse, my book had gone missing, and I was frantic.

Plus, Trish has been hanging out with Austin a lot too. Like a lot, she was barely coming into Sonic Boom anymore.

So when she invited me to hang out around the mall with her, I immediately said yes.

But then things got weird.

She showed up wearing a hot pink and black jacket and a coral blue tutu.

"Trish, what are you wearing?" I asked holding back a laugh and she shrugged.

"I got a job at Tutu Train. Anyway, look what I found!" she said, and took my book out of her bag.

"Trish!" I squealed grabbing my book. "Thank you so much! You are a life saver!"

She smiled and shrugged. "I try."

Dez walked in then, took one look at Trish and started laughing. Trish turned around to glare at him and my mouth dropped open.

"Jeez Dez. Someone looks especially stylin' today." I observed.

He was wearing a long sleeved black button up, a loose red tie, pants with a red belt, and really nice red shoes that looked like they belonged to Austin.

Trish laughed and Dez gave me a sour look.

"Yeah. Austin gave me a makeover." he sighed. "I miss my pants."

I shrugged. "Well you look great." I said glancing at Trish's tutu. "You both do. Now let's go walk around, I've been sitting for too long."

I hopped off the stool and we walked out of the store.

Austin POV

I was sweating bullets. And pacing. Plus I had this weird sensation in my stomach. I've been feeling that way too much ever since I started getting feelings for Ally.

Cassidy was following me and trying to calm me down.

"Blondie, relax. We're gonna do great." she tried to assure me, but I ran my fingers through my hair nervously anyway. i could tell my hair was still sticking up.

"Where's Dez, Trish, and Ally? They were supposed to be here already!" I worried.

"I've never seen you this stressed before Blondie." Cassidy smiled looking amused. "It's endearing…in an annoying kind of way."

I gave her my best 'now is not the time' look. "Cassidy." I warned.

"Relax. You're worrying for nothing." she said, but just then my drummer and guitarist, Ratliff and Rocky, ran up to us looking panicked.

"Austin, a couple of my cords snapped!" Rocky said.

Ratliff nodded and held up a broken drum stick. "And one of my drum sticks broke."

I groaned and put my head in my hands. Cassidy put a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and turned to the two guys.

"Go tell the stage manager. His name is Ryland, and I'm sure if you ask nicely, he'll go get you guys what you need." she said calmly, and they looked at Ryland.

Ratliff cracked a smile. "Him? He's like fifteen."

"Yes well if it weren't for him, none of this would be possible! Now go!" she ordered and they scrambled away looking fearful for their lives.

I started to pace again.

Ally POV

Things were going great, but when I stopped to get a smoothie Dez and Trish seemed really impatient.

It was really good to catch up, but I started to notice how weird things were. Like how a lot of people were wearing jackets even though it was pretty warm outside. And a lot of girls were wearing the same tutu as Trish.

"What's with all the tutus?" I asked finally, and Trish shared a nervous look with Dez.

"Um, Rydel finally had a sale at Tutu Train." Trish said quickly. And I gave her a weird look.

"And everyone decided to get the aqua blue tutu?" I asked.

Trish and Dez shared another nervous look.

"Um, it was a sale on the blue tutus." Dez said lamely and I stared at them.

"Okay what's going-" I started but Trish cut across me.

"Did you do something different with your hair?" she asked catching me off guard, but I smiled at her.

"Yeah actually, I did!" I said. "I got a new shampoo that adds an extra bounce and shine. I didn't think anyone would notice!"

Trish gave an awkward laugh, and Dez joined in. "Who wouldn't notice?"

I gave them a weird look and joined in on the awkward laughter.

"So Ally what's going on with you and Austin? You guys really calling it quits again?" Dez asked looking concerned and I sighed and stared at my feet.

"You make it sound like we're a couple." I said.

Trish and Dez were silent. "Your guys' situation reminds me of High School Musical 2's song Gotta Go My Own Way." Trish said randomly causing me to look up at her in confusion.

"What?" I laughed.

"Well Troy sings 'what about us? What about everything we've been through?' and Gabriela sings back 'well what about trust?' and he sings 'you know I never wanted to hurt you.'" she pointed out and I shook my head.

"Yeah, but Gabriela and Troy were a couple and the words that were exchanged were a lot friendlier than the words exchanged between Austin and I." I said.

She shrugged and we kept walking. But when I looked up, I stopped walking and my two friends looked at me smiling a little.

There was a huge stage in the middle of the mall and a ton of people in jackets and some girls in blue tutus were sitting by the stage talking.

"What's going on here?" I asked my friends.

"You'll see." Trish grinned at me and skipped over to the girls in tutus.

I turned to Dez questionably, but he was buy taking his camera out of his backpack.

"Ryland!" he called and a slightly tall boy with brown hair came jogging over.

"Hey, what's up Dez?" he asked.

"I'm gonna go join the other dancers, so I need you to take care of my camera." Dez said looking like he was about to cry. "Take special care of her okay? She means a lot to me."

"Dancers?" I asked curiously but neither of the boys paid attention to me.

Ryland stared at Dez in amusement. "Um, okay."

Dez reluctantly handed over his camera and slumped away to where everyone was sitting.

I turned to Ryland in desperation. "What's with the staging, and the dancing, and the…camera-ing?"

"Huh?" he asked tearing his eyes away from the camera.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" I asked dully.

"Oh." he sighed. "No." and he turned back to the camera.

I was about to go towards the stage when the curtains opened and, what do you know, out comes strolling Cassidy. She's wearing a beautiful spaghetti strap, aqua blue dress, with a pinstriped vest that was wide open with a matching fedora, and the same dark blue flats Trish was wearing.

Suddenly, as if they were being controlled, everyone wearing the same thing as Dez and Trish stood up and walked into 6 lines of 7 in blue-red-blue-red fashion.

They all took off the jackets and the girls were wearing a very cute black tank top.

Cassidy sat at the piano and looked at me. "This goes out to Ally." she said into the microphone and I stared at her feeling more perplexed than ever. So, Cassidy was doing all of this for me? Weird.

Then, she started playing a song that was all too familiar. Okay, now I was really freaking out. Why did Cassidy gather forty-two people, put a stage in the middle of the mall just to sing Better Together to me? Unless…

But then, the crowd starting clapping. The girls in blue would clap twice while the boys were crouched, then the girls would crouch while the boys stand up and clap once.

Okay, this was definitely different. What did Cassidy do to my song?

"_Sometimes, I get in my own way_

_I need someone to say_

_'Hey, what are you thinking?'"_

She walked away from the piano and walked around the stage while singing, and fog surged around the stage.

"_Your words, they're always just in time_

_Just like a perfect rhyme_

_Like, you're not even trying."_

Everyone paused and I honestly thought that they were all frozen, but then Cassidy dropped so fast it was unbelievable, and Austin jumped over her easily, and nearly fell off the stage. He was wearing his normal torn jeans with wallet chain dangling, a plain red t-shirt with a black coat over it, and red shoes.

"_When the crowd wants more I bring on the thunder _

_Cause you got my back and I'm not going under." _

As he sang he walked across the stage pretending to shrink with every step, and the crowd did the wave perfectly.

"_You're my point, you're my guard, you're the perfect cord _

_And I see our names together on every billboard."_

The crowd continued to dance, but my eyes were trained on Austin's, like I was stuck there. Of course, this is so something he would plan. He hopped back over to Cassidy wrapped an arm around her shoulders and they bounced up and down to the beat, in an interesting way to dance as they sang together.

"_Like pieces of a puzzle _

_Without each other, _

_We're in trouble, trouble…" _

Austin and Cassidy paused smiling a little. And then both of them, and the entire crowd sang in unison.

"_AND WE'LL KEEP ROCKING…OH!"_

Each guy and girl picked a partner and started dancing with each other, and I didn't fail to notice my two best friends dancing sweetly.

"_Hey (Hey), I will always stay_

_By your side forever_

_'Cause-"_

Austin pointed at me and winked causing me to blush against my will.

"_There's no way I can make it without you _

_Do it without you_

_Be here without you!"_

Austin stepped away from Cassidy and started doing his little show-off-ish dance moves.

_"Hey (Hey), there's no other way_

_We'll make it through whatever (Ooh-ooh)_

_'Cause-" _

As Austin sang the next verse he mocked a fake pout, and at the word 'whoa', everyone did mimed being blown away by wind.

_"It's no fun when you're doing it solo _

_With you it's like whoa _

_Yeah and I know... _

_We're Better Together!"_

Cassidy went back to the piano and began to play gently, while the drummer I knew as Ratliff began tapping a cymbal gently. And to my embarrassment, Austin started walking off of the stage toward me, and starting singing more gently.

_"Hey, I will always stay _

_By your side forever_

_ 'Cause-"_

Austin was now in front of me - actually singing to me! - and when he took his hand from behind his back, he had a bouquet of flowers. I could feel everyone staring at us and Ryland actually had the camera on us, but I was too frozen in shock to notice.

"_There's no way I can make it without you _

_Do it without you _

_Be here without you."_

The crowd and others that were watching cheered loudly, but I just stared into his eyes and he stared right back.

I don't think I was breathing.

Austin finally looked away and went back on stage while I stood there breathless. When I finally looked up, Ryland still had his camera aimed at me and he was smiling. Embarrassed and terrified I hid my face in my flowers.

"What's up Miami?" Austin shouted back on stage and putting his guitar on.

The crowd and others that gathered cheered loudly making him grin.

"So, I'm Austin Moon, and 6 months ago I wrote something on the internet about someone I care about deeply." Austin said sneaking a glance at me and I buried my head in the flowers again. "It was stupid, and harsh, and just horrible. I regret it so much. And so this is my way of apologizing to her. I'm dedicating my comeback concert to my old - and hopefully current- partner, Ally Dawson."

The spotlight turned on me and I stared at my flowers, to terrified to even blink. Luckily, there was a loud throat clearing and everyone looked at two blonde teens.

I recognized them as Riker and Rydel. The brother and sister who worked at neighboring stores, Ties & Things and Tutu Train.

"Oh, and a big thanks to Riker and Rydel for supplying the costumes." Austin laughed. "Anyway, this is the first song of the 'I'm-Sorry-I-Was-A-Jerk' Comeback Concert. I don't have any new songs for you guys, but I hope I will after this." he shot me another wink.

I blushed and knew one thing.

Austin was _definitely _going to have more new songs after this concert.

* * *

**THIS IS NOT THE END OF THE SERIES! ONE MORE CHAPTER TO GO! **

**Oh and also, the costumes are uploaded on my profile. Austin's costume is basically what he wore in the beginning credits. **


	10. 10: Whipped Cream Mustache

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything.**

**There's an important author's note at the end of this chapter. **

* * *

"_Oh, and a big thanks to Riker and Rydel for supplying the costumes." Austin laughed. "Anyway, this is the first song of the 'I'm-Sorry-I-Was-A-Jerk' Comeback Concert. I don't have any new songs for you guys, but I hope I will after this." he shot me another wink. _

_I blushed and knew one thing. _

_Austin was definitely going to have more new songs after this concert. _

* * *

Ally POV

The practice room was restored to it's old look a week after Austin's Comeback/I'm-Sorry Concert. It was pretty easy considering my dad's old wallpaper that he put up over Austin's was put on sloppily, and he hid everything else in the basement.

In some ways, it was like nothing had changed. In fact, Dez's first gingerbread house that we were saving was still in the mini-fridge. At least it was until Dez and Austin decided to eat it and get food poisoning for two days.

We were back in our regular spots; me and Austin at the piano, and Dez and Trish doing their own thing.

It should have been like old times; like we were back seven months ago. But it wasn't. So many things had changed.

Instead of constantly fighting all the time, Trish and Dez were playfully throwing grapes at each other.

And instead of falling over myself for Dallas, I was mooning over Austin.

It was official. I was head over heels in what felt like…well, not exactly love, but something similar to that.

And I think he might feel the same way.

I'm a huge fan of flowers and their meanings - next to Cloud Watching Club, Flower Power Club was my favorite club- and if Austin knew what those flowers meant when he gave them to me, than he definitely feels the same.

But every time I try to bring it up, something chaotic happens.

FLASHBACK!

I knocked on Austin's front door and his mom answered.

"Hi, Mrs. Moon. Is Austin here?" I asked and she smiled.

"Yes, he's just upstairs washing his hair. You can go wait in his room." she said kindly and let me in.

I don't know what she meant by washing his hair, but I was guessing she meant taking a shower.

I paced back and forth in his room practicing what I would say and how I would say it over and over again. But then there was a loud crash and a strangled yelp from down the hall.

I ran to the bathroom an pounded on the door.

"Austin? Are you okay? Can I come in? Are you decent?" I asked quickly.

"Define decent!" I heard him shout back and I opened the door.

He was fully clothed, but dripping wet with shampoo still in his hair. The shower was still running, and Austin had one eye open and one eye closed. Plus he was laying on the ground…and he had the shower curtain wrapped around him like an ill-fitting gown.

I stepped over him and turned the shower off.

"Are you okay?" I asked attempting horribly to stifle my laughter.

He kept blinking and wincing. "Not really. Can you help me?"

After several minutes of laughter and a few more of confusion, Austin was out of the curtain and leaning against the counter, still blinking and wincing.

"Well I was washing my hair so it would be able to comb - you know, to give it that flat-yet-windswept look - but I got shampoo in my eye and I freaked, and slipped." he admitted causing a couple more seconds of laughter from me.

"Why didn't you just take a regular shower?" I giggled while he glared at me through one eye.

"It's not funny! And I was feeling really lazy, and I had just gotten dressed. I figured it would be easy and painless." he cracked a smile. "Obviously, I was wrong."

I shook my head. "Well let me take a look at your eye. Make sure it isn't severely damaged or anything."

Austin turned his head away from me. "But it'll hurt." he whined making me give him my 'don't be a baby' look.

I ended up having to wash the shampoo out of his hair in the sink, and after several moans, groans, and complaints I got him to wash the shampoo out of his eye and all thoughts of flowers were gone.

FLASHBACK OVER!

So now, here I was, playing the piano without looking because I was too busy watching Austin sing with a smile on his face. He couldn't see me staring, he was really focused on getting each lyric right that was in my book.

"I said na, na, na. Yeah, na, na, na." he ended and looked up at me. "How was that?"

I shook my head and smiled at him. "It was great. Break?" I offered and he nodded all too willingly.

I stayed on the bench while he stole a couple grapes from Dez and sat in a beanie bag chair.

"I am so tired." Austin sighed looking like he might doze off right there.

"Well don't fall asleep here. Go home." I teased and he gave me a 'that's not fair!' look.

"But Trish sleeps here all the time!" Austin protested, and Trish turned to him after catching the grape that Dez through at her and throwing it back at Dez.

"Not true. I've never slept on the beanie bag chair." she pointed out causing Austin to throw a grape at her. "Ha!" she teased after catching the grape in her mouth.

"Well, I'm all out of grapes. I'm going to get some more at the Grape Cart." Dez sighed getting up and he looked at Trish expectantly. "You wanna come?"

She grinned. "Uh, yeah!" as they walked out of the room I heard her ask, "Instead of eating them, can we drop them on people who walk passed the window?" she closed the door behind her, and I realized I was alone with Austin.

_Okay, now or never. Don't be a coward Ally. Don't be coward Ally. You can do this! Eye of the tiger! _I cheered myself on.

"Hey Austin, can I ask you something?" I asked, and he smiled at me.

"Sure." he said.

I laughed awkwardly and chickened out. "I just did."

_You stink you wimp. _I thought to myself.

Austin looked at me weirdly. "Um, okay then." he got up and got a soda from the fridge.

"Wait!" I said quickly even though he wasn't going anywhere. "That's not what I was going to ask you."

Austin gave me a weird look again. "Okay." he looked at the flowers that he had given me that were on my desk. "Your flowers are wilting by the way."

I smiled and he flopped back on the beanie bag chair with a soda. I caught the water he tossed me, but played with cap nervously.

"Well, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about." I sighed finally looking up at him. He was as still as a statue and he was staring at his shoes. "I know what they mean…do you?"

"I knew you would." he sad finally looking at me. He smirked at me and I thought he was going to tell me he likes me. "You're into boring stuff like that."

I gave him a teasing glare and grabbed a stray grape from the ground and threw it at him, but he dodged it easily.

"So, did you?" I asked while swapping my water for a soda.

He was quiet while I struggled to open my soda. "Well…yeah." he said and my soda exploded out of the can when I opened it.

Austin POV

I knew Ally didn't feel the same way when she didn't immediately start cleaning up the soda mess.

I, however, ran to the closet and started soaking up the mess with a mass of towels. Ally knelt beside me and started helping me, but I didn't look at her.

I only looked up when I felt her hand accidentally touched mine, like it did when we had written our first song together.

Our eyes locked but she looked down. I helped her up, and I felt more vulnerable than ever. We were just standing there and staring at each other, not even talking. I couldn't breathe, I could barely think - which wasn't really knew to me, but still! Is this what Ally felt when she was on stage? Oh my God, did Ally give me stage fright?

"Will you say something?" I asked barely controlling the shakiness in my voice.

"I don't know what to say." she admitted. "I'm scared."

She didn't even let me ask why. "I like you too."

I almost started Ally-Dancing. But then I remembered that she said she's scared. "What are you scared about?"

"Say we get together." she said and I grinned stupidly at the idea. "What if we break up? What will happen to our partnership?"

I couldn't help but laugh a little. "Ally, despite all odds, our friendship and partnership survived 6 months of not speaking to each other. I think we could survive a break up." she looked unconvinced as she walked passed me.

"Come on. Let's go see how Trish and Dez are doing." she said and opened the door.

"Ally, will you go out with me?" I blurted out. She looked at me with her mouth open.

"Um," she shook her head. "No. I wont ruin our friendship."

I rolled my eyes and smiled. She liked me, she just didn't want to ruin our friendship. I'm not gonna give up that easily.

I grabbed her hand and she blushed. "Go out with me."

"No." she laughed slipping her hand out of mine.

I followed her down the steps into Sonic Boom.

"Ally, just go out with me." I laughed at how silly we were being.

She gave me her 'you are such a dork' look. "Austin!"

"Don't make me beg. I'll get on my knees in front of everyone, I promise Ally." I threatened, making her roll her eyes. When she didn't say anything I began to kneel and she laughed.

"Oh get up!" she looked me in the eye suddenly serious. "Can you promise me that if we break up it wont ruin our friendship and both our careers?"

I hooked my pinky around hers making her laugh again. "I promise."

She smiled and hugged me. But when she pulled away she was smiling evilly. "I have an idea. Let's not tell Trish and Dez yet."

I tilted my head to the side and smiled in curiosity. "Why?"

She shrugged. "Just to mess with them. It'll be fun."

I stared at her. "Did Ally Dawson just suggest something fun?" I asked acting shocked and she gave me another 'you're such a dork' look.

We walked to the food court where Dez and Trish were trying to discretely throw grapes at people.

"What are you guys doing?" Ally laughed as we sat across from them and I held Ally's hand underneath the table.

Trish sighed. "We're trying to hit people with grapes, but we keep missing."

I snatched a grape and hit Statue Man in the head. I gave Trish a triumphant look and received a fistful of grapes thrown at me.

We all laughed and Cassidy flopped in the chair next to me looking extremely nervous.

"What's wrong?" Dez asked.

She frowned. "Dallas asked me out on a date and I'm really freaking out because I really like him and I really want the date to go really well."

I smirked at her. "I've never seen you this stressed before Cassidy." I teased. "It's endearing…in an annoying kind of way."

"Now isn't the time for jokes Blondie." she growled glaring at me.

"Wait, wait, wait! You and Dallas?" Ally asked Cassidy and she grinned. "How cute!"

Cassidy smiled in thanks, and then looked at how close we were sitting and smirked at me. "Do you guys think you could double date with me and Dallas?"

I sucked half of a grape down with out chewing and starting coughing violently so Ally pounded on my back. "I'm okay!" I choked out.

Ally turned to Cassidy. "Um, sure. We'll double with you…as friends." she added quickly and Cassidy looked unconvinced.

"Mhmm." she said and turned to Dez and Trish. "Actually I guess we could make it a triple if you guys want to come."

Dez and Trish looked sick at the thought.

"Ew! Me and _him _on a date?" Trish exclaimed in disgust.

"Me and _her_?" Dez agreed looking a little green. "Besides, Mindy would be on a warpath if she found out."

Cassidy grinned at my two friends. "Lies. Mindy is dating one of the dancers from the flash mob now. Tonight at seven, okay?"

Trish and Dez huffed and stormed away from the table together, the back of their hands touching. Cassidy turned to us and jerked her thumb in their direction.

"They do know that they're in love with each other, right?" she asked causing us to laugh.

"Hard to tell." Ally smiled.

That night we met up with Dallas, Cassidy, Dez, and Trish.

"So where are we headed?" I asked, and they all shrugged. "Isn't this your guys' date?" I asked Dallas and Cassidy.

Dallas smiled sheepishly. "I didn't think she would say yes."

All the girls and Dez 'awww'ed while I rolled my eyes.

"I know of a place we could go." I grinned and ten minutes later we were all sitting at a booth in the Pancake Hut with stacks of pancakes.

Everyone was having a good time and laughing and I looked at Ally.

I figured it was time for everyone to know we were dating so I did the most romantic thing possible.

I grabbed the whipped cream and made a heart on one of Ally's pancakes. She grinned at me as all the girls and Dez 'awww'ed again.

"You guys are dating now?" Trish smiled, and Ally nodded.

The atmosphere got very romantic all of a sudden, and it was kind of weird because I wasn't used to it being like this with Ally.

But then she took the whipped cream from me and squirted it on my face in the shape of a mustache and the awkward, romantic atmosphere disintegrated and we all laughed…and then we laughed even harder when the whipped cream fell off of my face and onto our interlocked hands.

* * *

**So I've gotten a few requests to make a sequel to this story and I've decided to do one. I've already started writing it, I've got the title and the summary, so it should be up in a few day's time. **


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